CONTENTS

Introduction
Applications of Optical Fibres
Structure of Optical Fibres
Principle of Operation
Types of Optical Fibres
Pros of Optical Fibres
OPTICA
Cons of Optical Fibres
Conclusion
 INTRODUCTION

An optical fibre (or fibre) is a glass or plastic

fibre that carries light along its length. Fibre optics is the overlap of
applied science and engineering concerned with the design and
application of optical fibres. Optical fibres are widely used in fibre
optic communications, which permits transmission over longer
distances and at higher bandwidths (data rates) than other forms of
communications. Fibres are used instead of metal wires because
signals travel along them with less loss, and they are also immune to
electromagnetic interference. Fibres are also used for illumination,
and are wrapped in bundles so they can be used to carry images, thus
allowing viewing in tight spaces. Specially designed fibres are used
for a variety of other applications, including sensors and fibre lasers.

Figure 1:Cross Section of Optical Fibre.

Joining lengths of optical fibre is more complex

than joining electrical wire or cable. The ends of the fibres must be
carefully cleaved, and then spliced together either mechanically or by
fusing them together with an electric arc. Special connectors are used
to make removable connections.
 6

APPLICATIONS OF OPTICAL FIIBRES

Optical fibre communication

Optical fibre can be used as a medium for telecommunication

and networking because it is flexible and can be bundled as cables. It
is especially advantageous for long-distance communications, because
light propagates through the fibre with little attenuation compared to
electrical cables. This allows long distances to be spanned with few
repeaters. Additionally, the per-channel light signals propagating in
the fibre can be modulated at rates as high as 111 gigabits per second,
although 10 or 40 Gb/s is typical in deployed systems.

Figure 2:Transmission through an optic fibre.

Each fibre can carry many independent

channels, each using a different wavelength of light (wavelength
division multiplexing (WDM)). The net data rate (data rate without
overhead bytes) per fibre is the per-channel data rate reduced by the
FEC overhead, multiplied by the number of channels.
 Fibre is also immune to electrical interference;
there is no cross-talk between signals in different cables and no
pickup of environmental noise. Non-armoured fibre cables do not
conduct electricity, which makes fibre a good solution for protecting
communications equipment located in high voltage environments
such as power generation facilities, or metal communication
structures prone to lightning strikes. They can also be used in
environments where explosive fumes are present, without danger of
ignition.

Although fibres can be made out of transparent

plastic, glass, or a combination of the two, the fibres used in long
distance telecommunications applications are always glass, because of
the lower optical attenuation.
Copper Fiber

Electrical Noise
susceptible unless Bonded Immune
pair and/or shield
No spark
Spark hazard Hazardous
hazard
lower, but can be improved with
Durabiity High
the light jacketing
cost Lower higher
Both multi
mode and single-mode fibres are used in communications, with
multi-mode fibre used mostly for short distances, up to 550 m (600
yards), and single-mode fibre used for longer distance links. Because
of the tighter tolerances required to couple light into and between
single-mode fibres (core diameter about 1o micrometres), single
mode transmitters, receivers, amplifiers and other components are
generally more expensive than multi-mode components.
Fibre optic sensors

Fibres have many uses in remote sensing. In some

applications, the sensor is itself an optical fibre. In other cases, fibre
is used to connect a non-fibreoptic sensor to a measurement system.
Depending on the application, fibre may be used because of its small
size, or the fact that no electrical power is needed at the remote
location, or because many sensors can be multiplexed along the
length of a fibre by using different wavelengths of light for each
sensor, or by sensing the time delay as light passes along the fibre
through each sensor. Time delay can be determined using a device
such as an optical time-domain reflectometer.

(A) Target (B)

Measurement gas
cavity
LIGHT LIGHT
LIGHT LIGHT
Input Optical Fiber Output Optical Fiber Optical Fiber
EXTRINSIC SENSORS INTRINSICSENSORS

Extrinsic fibre optic sensors use an optical fibre

cable, normally a multi- mode one, to transmit modulated light from
either a non-fibre optical sensor, or an electronic sensor connected to
an optical transmitter. Amajor benefit of extrinsic sensors is their
ability to reach places which are otherwise inaccessible.
 An example is the measurement of temperature
inside aircraft jet engines by using a fibre to transmit radiation into a
radiation pyrometer located outside the engine. Extrinsic sensors can
also be used in the same way to measure the internal temperature of
electrical transformers, where the extreme electromagnetic fields
present make other measurement techniques impossible.

Other uses of optical fibres

Optical fibre is also used in imaging optics. A
coherent bundle of fibres is used, sometimes along with lenses, for a
long, thin imaging device called an endoscope, which is used to view
objects through a small hole. Medical endoscopes are used for
minimally invasive exploratory or surgical procedures (endoscopy).
Industrial endoscopes (see fiberscope or borescope) are used for
inspecting anything hard to reach, such as jet engine interiors.

Sensing' infection in Tissues

Measuring in Blood
Figure 3:Opticol fibres in an Endoscope.

In spectroscopy, optical fibre bundles are used to

transmit light from a spectrometer to a substance which cannot be
 10

placed inside the spectrometer itself, in order to analyse its

composition. Aspectrometer analyses substance by bouncing light off
of and through them. By using fibres, a spectrometer can be used to
study objects that are too large to fit inside, or gasses, or reactions
which occur in pressure vessels.

OnlyCube com

Figure 4:Optical fibres used in illumination applications.

Fibres are widely used in illumination

applications. They are used as light guides in medical and other
applications where bright light needs to be shone on a target without
a clear line-of-sight path. In some buildings, optical fibres are used to
route sunlight from the roof to other parts of the building. Optical
fibre illumination is also used for decorative applications, including
signs, art, and artificial Christmas trees. Swarovski boutiques use
optical fibres to illuminate their crystal showcases from many
different angles while only employing one light source.
 11

Structure of Optical Fibres

The three basic elements of a fibre optic cable are the core, the
cladding and the coating.
Core: This is the light transmission area of the fibre, either glass
or plastic. The larger the core, the more light that will be
transmitted into the fibre.

Cladding: The function of the cladding is to provide a lower

refractive index at the core interface in order to cause reflection
within the core so that light waves are transmitted through the
fibre.

Strength
Member

Cladding

Outer
Jacket
Core
Coating
Figure 5:Constituents of an Optical Fibre.

Coating: Coatings are usually multi-layers of plastics applied to

preserve fibre strength, absorb shock and provide extra fibre
protection. These buffer coatings are available from 250 microns
to go0 microns.
 12

Principle of Operation

Total Internal Reflection

When light travelling in a dense
medium hits a boundary at a steep angle (larger than the "critical
angle" for the boundary), the light will be completely reflected. This
effect is used in optical fibres to confine light in the core. Light travels
along the fibre bouncing back and forth off of the boundary. Because
the light must strike the boundary with an angle greater than the
critical angle, only light that enters the fibre within a certain range of
angles can travel down the fibre without leaking out. This range of
angles is called the acceptance cone of the fibre. The size of this
acceptance cone is a function of the refractive index difference
between the fibre's core and cladding.

Figure 6:A laser beam undergoing Total Internal Reflection.

In simpler terms, there is a maximum angle

from the fibre axis at which light may enter the fibre so that it will
propagate, or travel, in the core of the fibre. The sine of this
maximum angle is the Numerical Aperture (NA) of the fibre. Fibre
with a larger NA requires less precision to splice and work with than
fibre with a smaller NA. Single-mode fibre has a small NA.
 13

Types of Optical Fibres

Single Mode Cable

Single Mode cable isa single stand (most applications use 2 fibres)
of glass fibre with a diameter of 8.3 to 10 microns that has one mode
of transmission. Single Mode Fibre with a relatively narrow
diameter, through which only one mode will propagate typically 1310
or 155onm. Carries higher bandwidth than multimode fibre, but
requires a light source with a narrow spectral width. Synonyms
mono-mode optical fibre, single-mode fibre, single-mode optical
waveguide, uni-mode fibre.
Single Modem fibre is used in many applications where data is sent at
multi-frequency (WDM Wave-Division-Multiplexing) so only one
cable is needed - (single-mode on one single fibre)
Single-mode fibre gives you a higher transmission rate and up to 5o
times more distance than multimode, but it also costs more. Single
mode fibre has a much smaller core than multimode. The small core
and single light-wave virtually eliminate any distortion that could
result from overlapping light pulses, providing the least signal
attenuation and the highest transmission speeds of any fibre cable
type.

Single-mode optical fibre is an optical fibre in which only the lowest

order bound mode can propagate at the wavelength of interest
typically 1300 to 1320nm.
 14

Multi-Mode Cable
Multi-Mode cable has a little bit bigger
diameter, with a common diameter in the 5o-to-100-micron range for
the light carry component (in the US the most common size is
62.5um). Most applications in which Multi-mode fibre is used, 2
fibres are used (WDM is not normally used on multi-mode
fibre). POF isanewer plastic-based cable which promises
performance similar to glass cable on very short runs, but at a lower
cost.
Otpse

Multimode fibre gives you high bandwidth at high

speeds (10 to 100MBS - Gigabit to 275m to zkm) over medium
distances. Light waves are dispersed into numerous paths, or modes,
as they travel through the cable's core typically 850 or 130onm.
Typical multimode fibre core diameters are so, 62.5, and 100
micrometres. However, in long cable runs (greater than 3000 feet
[g14.4 meters), multiple paths of light can cause signal distortion at
the receiving end, resulting in an unclear and incomplete data
transmission so designers now call for single mode fibre in new
applications using Gigabit and beyond.
 15

Pros of Using Optical Fibres

Extremely High Bandwidth: No other cable-based data

transmission medium offers the bandwidth that fibre does. The
volume of data that fibre optic cables transmit per unit time is
far great than copper cables.

Longer Distance: In fibre optic transmission, optical cables are

capable of providing low power loss, which enables signals can
be transmitted to a longer distance than copper cables.

Resistance to Electromagnetic Interference: In practical cable

deployment, it's inevitable to meet environments like power
substations, heating, ventilating and other industrial sources of
interference. However, fibre has a very low rate of bit error (10
EXP-13), as a result of fibre being so resistant to electromagnetic
interference. Fibre optic transmission is virtually noise free.

Low Security Risk: Data or signals are transmitted via light in

fibre optic transmission. Therefore, there is no way to detect the
data being transmitted by "listening in" to the electromagnetic
energy "leaking" through the cable, which ensures the absolute
security of information.

" Small Size: Fibre optic cable has a very small diameter. For
instance, the cable diameter of a single OM3 multimode fibre is
about 2mm, which is smaller than that of coaxial copper cable.
Small size saves more space in fibre optic transmission.
 16

Cons of Using Optical Fibres

>Fragility: Usually optical fibre cables are made of glass, which

lends to they are more fragile than electrical wires. In addition,
glass can be affected by various chemicals including hydrogen
gas (a problem in underwater cables), making them need more
cares when deployed underground.

> Difficult to Install: It's not easy to splice fibre optic cable. And it
you bend them too much, they will break. And fibre cable is
highly susceptible to becoming cut or damaged during
installation or construction activities. All these make it difficult
to install.

> Attenuation &Dispersion: As transmission distance getting

longer, light will be attenuated and dispersed, which requires
extra optical components like EDFA to be added.

> Cost Is Higher Than Copper Cable: Despite the fact that fibre
optic installation costs are dropping by as much as 60% a year,
installing fibre optic cabling is still relatively higher than copper
cables. Because copper cable installation does not need extra care
like fibre cables. However, optical fibre is still moving into the
local loop, and through technologies such as FTTx (fibre to the
home, premises, etc.) and PONs (passive optical networks),
enabling subscriber and end user broadband access.
 17

CONCLUSION

Fibre optic transmission is widely used for data

transmission and is increasingly being used in place of metal wires
because of its efficiency and high transmission capacity. We have seen
the fibre optic cables have replaced traditional copper twisted-pair
cable or coaxial cable. As the use and demand for great bandwidth
and fast speed, there is no doubt that fibre optic transmission will
bring more opportunities and be continuously researched and
expanded
O to P
cater forT
future I
demands.
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