OPTICAL FIBER COMMUNICATION

DEEPA MATHEW
Asst.Prof.,ECE Dept. CEC
Generation of Optical Communication

First 2G 3G 4G 5G

1975 1980 1450-

1550nm W-1530-
1620nm
1570
Wl-800nm 1300nm Losses Used for
optical
about .2 amplification
GaAs dB/km and wdm
14terrabit
semiconductor laser
GaAs
&photo detector semiconductor s/s
Bitrate
Limited to Br-10tbps
Bitrate 30- 10Gb/sec
single mode
140mbps fiber rep-
Repeater Based on Rep- 24000km-
Rl-90km InGaAs 1000km 35000km
-40km
Spectrum for communication
Attenuation Vs Wavelength
General Communication System

Information Transmission
Transmitter Receiver Destination
Source Medium
 Elements of
Optical communication System
 Advantages of
OFC over conventional Copper Wire Communication
 Small Size and light Weight
 Abundant Raw Material Availability
 Higher Band Width Low Noise
 Low transmission loss and high signal security
 Highly Reliable and easy of maintainance
 Fibers Are Electrically Isolation
 Highly transparent at particular Wave Length
 No possibility of ISI and echoes cross talketc.
 Immunity to natural hazardous.
 Fiber vs. Copper
 Optical fiber transmits light pulses
 Can be used for analog or digital transmission
 Voice, computer data, video, etc.
 Copper wires (or other metals) can carry the same
types of signals with electrical pulses
 Optical Fiber
 Core
 Glass or plastic with a higher index of
refraction than the cladding
 Carries the signal

 Cladding
 Glass or plastic with a lower index of
refraction than the core
 Buffer
 Protects the fiber from damage and
moisture
 Jacket
 Holds one or more fibers in a cable
Index of Refraction(n)
 When light enters a dense medium like glass
or water, it slows down
 The index of refraction (n) is the ratio of the
speed of light in vacuum to the speed of light
in the medium n=c/v
 Water has n = 1.3
 Light takes 30% longer to travel through it
 Fiber optic glass has n = 1.5
 Light takes 50% longer to travel through it
Material Used
 Basic materials are plastic and Sand(Sio2)
 The Dopents used increase or decrease RI
are:-
 GeO2 and P2O5--- To increase RI
 B2O3------ To Decrease RI
Plastic Optical Fiber
 Large core (1 mm) step-index multimode fiber
 Easy to cut and work with, but high attenuation (1
dB / meter) makes it useless for long distances
 Singlemode Fiber
 Singlemode fiber has a core diameter of 8 to 9
microns, which only allows one light path or
mode
 Images from arcelect.com (Link Ch 2a)

Index of
refraction
Multimode Step-Index Fiber
 Multimode fiber has a core diameter of 50 or 62.5
microns (sometimes even larger)
 Allows several light paths or modes
 This causes modal dispersion – some modes take
longer to pass through the fiber than others because
they travel a longer distance

See animation at link Ch 2f

Index of
refraction
Step-index Multimode
 Large core size, so source power can be
efficiently coupled to the fiber
 High attenuation (4-6 dB / km)
 Low bandwidth (50 MHz-km)
 Used in short, low-speed datalinks
 Also useful in high-radiation
environments, because it can be made with
pure silica core
Singlemode FIber
 Best for high speeds and long distances
 Used by telephone companies and CATV
Multimode Graded-Index Fiber
 The index of refraction gradually changes across the
core
 Modes that travel further also move faster
 This reduces modal dispersion so the bandwidth is
greatly increased

Index of
refraction
Step-index and Graded-index
 Step index multimode was developed first, but
rare today because it has a low bandwidth
(50
MHz-km)
 It has been replaced by graded-index multimode
with a bandwidth up to 2 GHz-km
Types of Optical Fibers
 Total Internal Reflection

Snells Law :
n1sin1  n2 sin2
Reflection Condition
1   3
When n1  n2 and as 1 increases eventually 2
goes to 90 degrees and
n
n1 sinc  n2 or sinc  2
n1
c is called the Critical angle
For 1 c there is no propagating refracted ray
Light Ray confinement

nSinθ0=n1Sinθ; SinΦ=n2/n1;

NA= n1(2Δ)1/2 ; ΔT=L Δ n12/cn2

 Acceptance
Angle
The acceptance angle ( ) is the
i
largest incident angle ray that
can be coupled into a guided ray
within the fiber

The Numerical Aperture (NA) is

the sin(i) this is defined
analogously to that for a lens

1 1 1
NA = (n1 - n2 ) = (2D n )2 = n(2D)2
2 2 2 2

n1 - n2 n1+ n 2 f f
Where D º and n f#º =
n 2 D FullAccep
º tanceAngle
1
=
2×N
A
Sources and Wavelengths
 Multimode fiber is used with
 LED sources at wavelengths of 850 and 1300 nm
for slower local area networks
 Lasers at 850 and 1310 nm for networks running at
gigabits per second or more
Sources and Wavelengths
 Singlemode fiber is used with
 Laser sources at 1300 and 1550 nm
 Bandwidth is extremely high, around 100 THz-km
 Fiber Optic Specifications
 Attenuation
 Loss of signal, measured in dB
 Dispersion
 Blurring of a signal, affects bandwidth
 Bandwidth
 The number of bits per second that can be sent
through a data link
 Numerical Aperture
 Measures the largest angle of light that can be
accepted into the core
Attenuation and Dispersion
Measuring Bandwidth
 The bandwidth-distance product in units of
MHz×km shows how fast data can be
sent
through a cable
 A common multimode fiber with bandwidth-
distance product of 500 MHz×km could
carry
 A 500 MHz signal for 1 km, or
 A 1000 MHz signal for 0.5 km
From Wikipedia
Numerical
Aperture
 If the core and cladding have almost the same
index of refraction, the numerical aperture will be
small
 This means that light must be shooting right
down the center of the fiber to stay in the core
Fiber Manufacture
Three Methods
 Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition (MCVD)
 Outside Vapor Deposition (OVD)
 Vapor Axial Deposition (VAD)
 Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition
(MCVD)
 A hollow, rotating glass tube is
heated with a torch
 Chemicals inside the tube
precipitate to form soot
 Rod is collapsed to crate
a
preform
 Preform is stretched in a
drawing tower to form a single
fiber up to 10 km long
Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition
(MCVD)
Outside Vapor Deposition (OVD)
 A mandrel is coated with a porous preform in a
furnace
 Then the mandrel is removed and the preform is
collapsed in a process called sintering
 Image from csrg.ch.pw.edu.pl
Vapor Axial Deposition (VAD)
 Preform is fabricated
continuously
 When the preform is long
enough, it goes directly
to the drawing tower
 Image from csrg.ch.pw.edu.pl
 Drawing
Apparatus
The fiber is drawn from the preform
and then coated with a protective
coating
Fiber Performance
Attenuation
 Modern fiber material is very pure, but there is still some
attenuation
 The wavelengths used are chosen to avoid absorption
bands
 850 nm, 1300 nm, and 1550 nm
 Plastic fiber uses 660 nm LEDs
 Image from iec.org (Link Ch 2n)
 Optical Loss in dB (decibels)
Power In Power Out
Data Link

 If the data link is perfect, and loses no power

 The loss is 0 dB

 If the data link loses 50% of the power

 The loss is 3 dB, or a change of – 3 dB

 If the data link loses 90% of the power

 The loss is 10 dB, or a change of – 10 dB

 If the data link loses 99% of the power

 The loss is 20 dB, or a change of – 20 dB

dB = 10 log (Power Out / Power In)

Absolute Power in dBm
 The power of a light is measured in milliwatts
 For convenience, we use the dBm
units, where
-20 dBm = 0.01 milliwatt
-10 dBm = 0.1 milliwatt
0 dBm = 1 milliwatt
10 dBm = 10 milliwatts
20 dBm = 100 milliwatts
Three Types of Dispersion
 Dispersion is the spreading out of a light pulse as
it travels through the fiber
 Three types:
 Modal Dispersion
 Chromatic Dispersion
 Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD)
Modal Dispersion
 Modal Dispersion
 Spreading of a pulse because different modes
(paths) through the fiber take different times
 Only happens in multimode fiber
 Reduced, but not eliminated, with graded-index
fiber
Chromatic Dispersion
 Different wavelengths travel at different speeds
through the fiber
 This spreads a pulse in an effect named
chromatic
dispersion(group Delay)
T=1/vg =1/L *dВ/dώ
 Chromatic dispersion occurs in both singlemode and
multimode fiber
 Larger effect with LEDs than with lasers
 A far smaller effect than modal dispersion
Modal Distribution
 In graded-index fiber, the off-axis modes go a
longer distance than the axial mode, but they
travel faster, compensating for dispersion
 But because the off-axis modes travel further, they
suffer more attenuation
Equilibrium Modal Distribution
 A long fiber that has lost the high-order modes is
said to have an equilibrium modal distribution
 For testing fibers, devices that can be used to
condition the modal distribution so that
measurements will be accurate
Mode Stripper
An index-matching substance is put on the
outside of the fiber to remove light travelling
through the cladding
Mode Scrambler
 Mode scramblers mix light to excite every
possible mode of transmission within the
fiber
 Used for accurate measurements of attenuation
 Figure from
fiber-optics.info
(Link Ch 2o)
Semiconductor Optical Sources
Source Characteristics
 Important Parameters
 Electrical-optical conversion efficiency
 Optical power
 Wavelength
 Wavelength distribution (called linewidth)
 Cost
 Semiconductor lasers
 Compact
 Good electrical-optical conversion efficiency
 Low voltages
 Los cost
 Semiconductor Optoelectronics
 Two energy bands
 Conduction band (CB)
 Valence band (VB)
 Fundamental processes
 Absorbed photon creates an electron-hole pair
 Recombination of an electron and hole can emit a photon
 Types of photon emission
 Spontaneous emission
 Random recombination of an electron-hole pair
 Dominant emission for light emitting diodes (LED)
 Stimulated emission
 A photon excites another electron and hole to recombine
 Emitted photon has similar wavelength, direction, and phase
 Dominant emission for laser diodes
 Basic Light Emission Processes

 Pumping (creating more electron-hole pairs)

 Electrically create electron-hole pairs
 Optically create electron-hole pairs
 Emission (recombination of electron-hole pairs)
 Spontaneous emission
 Simulated emission
 Semiconductor Material
 Semiconductor crystal is required
 Type IV elements on Periodic Table
 Silicon
 Germanium
 Combination of III-V materials
 GaAs
 InP
 AlAs
 GaP
 InAs
…
 Direct and Indirect Materials

 Relationship between energy and momentum for electrons and holes

 Depends on the material
 Electrons in the CB combine with holes in the VB
 Photons have no momentum
 Photon emission requires no momentum change
 CB minimum needs to be directly over the VB maximum
 Direct band gap transition required

 Only specific materials have a direct bandgap

Light Emission
 The emission wavelength depends on the energy band gap

E g  E 2  E1

ch 1.24
 

 Semiconductor compEogundsEghave different

 Energy band gaps
 Atomic spacing (called lattice constants)
 Combine semiconductor compounds
 Adjust the bandgap
 Lattice constants (atomic spacing) must be matched
 Compound must be matched to a substrate
 Usually GaAs or InP
Common Semiconductor
Compounds
 GaAs and AlAs have the same lattice constants
These compounds are used to grow a ternary compound that
is lattice matched to a GaAs substrate (Al1-xGaxAs)
 0.87 <  < 0.63 (m)
 Quaternary compound GaxIn1-xAsyP1-y is lattice
matched to InP if y=2.2x
1.0 <  < 1.65 (m)
 Optical telecommunication laser compounds
 In0.72Ga0.28As0.62P0.38 (=1300nm)

 In0.58Ga0.42As0.9P0.1 (=1550nm)
Optical Sources
 Two main types of optical sources
 Light emitting diode (LED)
 Large wavelength content
 Incoherent
 Limited directionality
 Laser diode (LD)
 Small wavelength content
 Highly coherent
 Directional
 Avoiding
losses in LED

Carrier Photon
confinement Confinement

Band-gap and refractive index engineering.

Heterostructured LED
 Double Heterojunction LED
(important)

Fiber
Optics

Epoxy
Double
Metal contact
heterostructure
n AlGaAs
p GaAs (active region)
 Burrus
p Al GaAs type LED
n+ GaAs

Metal contact
 Shown
bonded to a fiber
with index-
matching epoxy.
Double Heterostructure
 The double heterostructure is invariably used for
optical sources for communication as seen in the
figure in the pervious slide.
 Heterostucture can be used to increase:
 Efficiency by carrier confinement (band gap engineering)
 Efficiency by photon confinement (refractive index)
 The double heterostructure enables the source
radiation to be much better defined, but further, the
optical power generated per unit volume is much
greater as well. If the central layer of a double
heterostructure, the narrow band-gap region is made
no more than 1m wide.
 Photon confinement -
Reabsorption problem

Source of electrons

Active region (micron in thickness)

Source of holes

Active region (thin layer of GaAs) has smaller band gap, energy of photons
emitted is smaller then the band gap of the P and N-GaAlAs hence could not
be reabsorbed.
Carrier confinement
electrons

holes
n+-AlGaAs p-GaAs p+-AlGaAs

Simplified band diagram of the ‘sandwich’ top show carrier confinement

Light Emitting Diodes (LED)
 Spontaneous emission
dominates
 Random photon
emission
 Spatial implications of random
emission
 Broad far field emission
pattern
 Dome used to extract more of the
light
 Critical angle is between
semiconductor and plastic
 Angle between plastic and air is
near normal
 Spectral implications of random
 Broad spectrum   1.452p kT
emission
 Laser Diode
 Stimulated emission dominates
 Narrower spectrum
 More directional
 Requires high optical power density in the gain region
 High photon flux attained by creating an optical cavity
 Optical Feedback: Part of the optical power is reflected
back into the cavity
 End mirrors
 Lasing requires net positive gain
 Gain > Loss
 Cavity gain
 Depends on external pumping
 Applying current to a semiconductor pn junction
 Cavity loss
 Material absorption
 Scatter
 End face reflectivity
 Laser Diode
 Stimulated emission dominates
 Narrower spectrum
 More directional
 Requires high optical power density in the gain region
 High photon flux attained by creating an optical cavity
 Optical Feedback: Part of the optical power is reflected
back into the cavity
 End mirrors
 Lasing requires net positive gain
 Gain > Loss
 Cavity gain
 Depends on external pumping
 Applying current to a semiconductor pn junction
 Cavity loss
 Material absorption
 Scatter
 End face reflectivity
Optical Feedback

 Easiest method: cleaved end faces

 End faces must be parallel
 Uses Fresnel reflection

 n  1 
2

R
 n 1
 For GaAs (n=3.6) R=0.32
 Lasing condition requires the net cavity gain to be one
R1 R2 expg    L   1

 g: distributed medium gain

 : distributed loss
 R1 and R2 are the end facet reflectivity's
 Phase Condition

 The waves must add in phase as given by

2 L z  2 m

 Resulting in modes given by

2 Ln

m
 Where m is an integer and n is the refractive index of the cavity
Longitudinal Modes
 Longitudinal Modes

 The optical cavity excites various longitudinal

modes
 Modes with gain above the cavity loss have the
potential to lase
 Gain distribution depends on the spontaneous
emission band
 Wavelength width of the individual longitudinal
Mode Separation
 Wavelength of the various modes

2Ln

m 1 1 
 The wavelength   2 Lnof
  mm1separation m the

 m  odes
 is
m 1
2 Ln  2
 A longer cavity  2  2 Ln
m of modes
 Increases the number
 Decrease the threshold gain
 There is a trade-off with the length of the laser
cavity