Optical Fiber Communication

ICE-3241

Dr. Md. Hasnat Kabir

Dept. of Information and Communication Engineering,

University of Rajshahi,
Rajshahi, Bngladesh.
08-08-2017

Ref: Optical Fiber Communications

Principles and Practice
JOHN M. SENIOR
 Definition
• Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting
information from one place to another by sending pulses
of light through an optical fiber.

• The light forms an electromagnetic carrier wave that

is modulated to carry information.

• Optical fiber is used by many telecommunications companies

to transmit telephone signals, Internet communication, and
cable television signals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber-optic_communication
Comparison with electrical transmission

• Depend on applications.
• Optical fiber is generally chosen for systems requiring
higher bandwidth or spanning longer distances than electrical
cabling can accommodate.
• The main benefits of fiber are its exceptionally low loss.
• Its inherently high data-carrying capacity.
• Thousands of electrical links would be required to replace a
single high bandwidth fiber cable.
• Fiber cables experience effectively no crosstalk, in contrast to
some types of electrical transmission lines.
• Fiber can be installed in areas with high electromagnetic
interference (EMI), such as alongside utility lines, power lines,
and railroad tracks. 3

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber-optic_communication
Working principle

Total Internal Reflection

• When a ray of light travels from a denser to a rarer

medium such that the angle of incidence is greater
than the critical angle, the ray reflects back into the
same medium this phenomena is called total
internal reflection.
• In the optical fiber the rays undergo repeated total
number of reflections until it emerges out of the
other end of the fiber, even if the fiber is bent.
Total internal reflection in optical
fiber
How fiber works?

6
 The general system
• An optical fiber communication system is similar in basic
concept to any type of communication system.
• A block schematic of a general communication system is
shown in Figure 1.2(a),

7
• Information source- it provides an electrical
signal to a transmitter comprising an electrical
stage.
• Electrical transmitter- It drives an optical
source to give an modulation of the light wave
carrier.
• Optical source- It provides the electrical-optical
conversion .It may be a semiconductor laser or
an LED.
• Optical cable: It serves as transmission medium.
• Optical detector: It is responsible for optical to
electrical conversion of data and hence responsible
for demodulation of the optical carrier. It may be a
photodiodes, phototransistor, and photoconductors.
• Electrical receiver: It is used for electrical interfacing
at the receiver end of the optical link and to perform
the signal processing electrically.
• Destination: It is the final point at which we receive
the information in the form of electrical signal.
10
 Advantages of optical fiber communication

• (a) Enormous potential bandwidth: The optical carrier

frequency in the range 1013 to 1016 Hz yields; >> metallic cable
systems or even millimeter wave radio systems.
• (b) Small size and weight: small diameters < diameter of a
human hair.
• Therefore it is useful for such as aircraft, satellites and even
ships.

11
• (c) Electrical isolation: electrical insulators and therefore, do
not exhibit interface problems.
• Transmission ideally suited for communication in electrically
hazardous environments.
• (d) Immunity to interference and crosstalk: Optical fibers
form a dielectric waveguide and are therefore free from
electromagnetic interference (EMI), radio-frequency
interference (RFI).
• Hence the system is unaffected by transmission through an
electrically noisy environment and the fiber cable requires no
shielding from EMI.
• Moreover, there is no optical interference between fibers and 12
hence, crosstalk is negligible.
• (e) Signal security: The light from optical fibers does not
radiate significantly and therefore they provide a high degree
of signal security.
• (f) Low transmission loss: It exhibits very low attenuation or
transmission loss in comparison with the best copper
conductors.
• Fibers have been fabricated with losses as low as 0.15 dB km−1
and this feature has become a major advantage of optical
fiber communications.
• (g) Ruggedness and flexibility: The fibers may be bent to
quite small radii or twisted without damage.
13
• (h) System reliability and ease of maintenance: the low-loss
property of optical fiber cables reduces the requirement for
intermediate repeaters or line amplifiers to boost the
transmitted signal strength.
• (i) Potential low cost: made from sand, potential for low-cost
line communication.
• Bulk purchase has become competitive with copper wires.

14
 Disadvantage
1) Highly skilled staff would be required for
maintenance
2) Only point to point working is possible on
optical fiber
3) Precise and costly instruments would be
required
4) Costly if under utilized.
5) Accept unipolar codes only.
6) Jointing of fiber and splicing is also time
consuming.
 Applications
• Optical fiber have wider range of application in
almost all field, some are been specified below

• In telecommunication field
• In space applications
• Broadband applications
• Computer applications industrial applications
• Mining applications
• In medical applications
• In military applications etc.
Ray theory transmission
• Total internal reflection:
• Need to know about refractive index.
• The refractive index of a medium is defined as the ratio of the
velocity of light in a vacuum to the velocity of light in the
medium.
• light travels slowly in dense medium than less dense medium.
• The angles of incidence φ1 and refraction φ2 are related to
each other and to the refractive indices of the dielectrics by
Snell’s law of refraction, which states that:
• n1 sin φ1 = n2 sin φ2 or
𝑠𝑖𝑛∅1 𝑛2
• = [2.1]
𝑠𝑖𝑛∅2 𝑛1 17
18
• When the angle of refraction is 90° and the refracted ray
emerges parallel to the interface between the dielectrics, the
angle of incidence must be less than 90°.
• The angle of incidence is now known as the critical angle φc,
as shown in Figure 2.2(b).
• From Eq. (2.1) the value of the critical angle is given by:
𝑛2
• 𝑠𝑖𝑛∅𝑐 =
𝑛1
• If angles of incidence > than the critical angle
• the light is reflected back into the originating dielectric
medium, i.e. total internal reflection.
19
• This is the mechanism of propagating light via an optical fiber
with low loss.
• Figure 2.3 illustrates the transmission of a light ray in an
optical fiber via a series of total internal reflections
• The ray has an angle of incidence φ at the interface which is
greater than the critical angle and is reflected at the same
angle to the normal.

20
21
 Acceptance angle
• For transition of light by total internal reflection within the fiber
core, light must be incident on the fiber core within an
acceptance cone defined by the conical half angle θa.
• Hence θa is the maximum angle to the axis at which light may
enter the fiber in order to be propagated, and is often referred
to as the acceptance angle for the fiber.

22
Numerical Aperture
• In optics, the numerical aperture (NA) - a dimensionless
number .
• In fiber optics, it describes the range of angles within which
light that is incident on the fiber will be transmitted along it.
• In most areas of optics, and especially in microscopy, the
numerical aperture of an optical system such as an objective
lens is defined by
• 𝑁𝐴 = 𝑛𝑆𝑖𝑛𝜃
• where n is the index of refraction of the medium and 𝜃 is the
maximal half-angle of the cone of light that can enter or exit
the lens.
23

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerical_aperture
 Numerical Aperture
• A multi-mode optical fiber will only propagate light that enters the
fiber within a certain cone, known as the acceptance cone of the
fiber.
• The half-angle of this cone is called the acceptance angle, 𝜃max.
• The NA may also be given in terms of the relative refractive index
difference Δ between the core and the cladding which is defined as:

• Example 2.1
24
• Example 2.2
• Problem: 2.1 & 2.2
 Electromagnetic mode theory
• Electromagnetic waves:
• Transmission of energy through a vacuum or
using no medium is accomplished
by electromagnetic waves, caused by the
oscillation of electric and magnetic fields.
• The electronic and magnetic fields oscillate in
directions perpendicular to each other and to
the direction of motion of the wave.
• Both fields are mutually coupled vector waves
and are vector functions of position & time.
25

http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~cchieh/cact/c120/emwave.html
26
• In free space, electric & magnetic fields satisfy the following partial
differential equations, known as Maxwell’ equations:

• Utilizing vector identities, which work for any vector, as

follows:

• The curl of equation (2):

27

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_radiation
• Evaluating the left hand side:

• simplifying the above by using equation (1).

• Evaluating the right hand side:

• Equations (6) and (7) are equal, so this results in a vector-

valued differential equation for the electric field, namely

28
• Applying a similar pattern results in similar differential
equation for the magnetic field:

• These differential equations are equivalent to the wave

equation:

• Where c0 is the speed of the wave in free space and

f describes a displacement

29
• Modes in a planar guide:
• A transverse mode of electromagnetic radiation is a particular
electromagnetic field pattern of radiation measured in a plane
perpendicular (i.e., transverse) to the propagation direction of
the beam.

• Transverse electric (TE)

• Transverse magnetic (TM)
• Transverse electromagnetic (TEM)

• When light is described as an electromagnetic wave it consists

of a periodically varying electric field E and magnetic field H
which are orientated at right angles to each other.
30
31
• The transverse modes shown in Figure 2.9 illustrate the case
when the electric field is perpendicular to the direction of
propagation and hence Ez = 0, but a corresponding component
of the magnetic field H is in the direction of propagation.
• In this instance the modes are said to be transverse electric (TE).
• Alternatively, when a component of the E field is in the direction
of propagation, but Hz = 0, the modes formed are called
transverse magnetic (TM).
• When the total field lies in the transverse plane, transverse
electromagnetic (TEM) waves exist where both Ez and Hz are
zero.
• However, although TEM waves occur in metallic conductors
(e.g. coaxial cables) they are seldom found in optical
waveguides. 32
Cylindrical fiber
• This type of optical waveguide with a constant refractive index
core is known as a step index fiber.
• The cylindrical homogeneous core waveguide under the weak
guidance conditions, the scalar wave equation can be written
in the form:

• where ψ is the field (E or H), n1 is the refractive index of the

fiber core, k is the propagation constant for light in a vacuum,
and r and φ are cylindrical coordinates.
• The propagation constants of the guided modes β lie in the
range:
33
• where n2 is the refractive index of the fiber cladding.
• Solutions of the wave equation for the cylindrical fiber are
separable, having the form:

• where in this case ψ represents the dominant transverse

electric field component. The periodic dependence on φ
following cos lφ or sin lφ gives a mode of radial order l.
• Hence the fiber supports a finite number of guided modes of
the form of Eq. (2.63).

• For a step index fiber with a constant refractive index core, Eq.
(2.64) is a Bessel differential equation and the solutions are
cylinder functions. 34
• a is the radius of the fiber core; U and W, which are the
eigenvalues in the core and cladding respectively.

35
 Graded index fibers
• The core refractive index decreases continuously with
increasing radial distance r from the center of the fiber but is
generally constant in the cladding.
• The refractive-index variation in the core follows the power
law relationship:

36

Book: Keiser
• For different values of alfha

37
 Graded Index Numerical Aperture

38
Example: 2.5
Book: Keiser
Book: Senior
Single-mode fiber

• Fiber supporting only one mode is called single-ode or mono-

mode fiber.
• In fiber-optic communication, a single-mode optical
fiber (SMF) is an optical fiber designed to carry light only
directly down the fiber.
Signle mode fibers are
constructed by letting dimensions
of the core diameter be a few
wavelength and by having small
index differences between the
core and the cladding.

39
Multi-mode fiber

• Fiber with large core diameter (greater than 10 micrometers)

may be analyzed by geometrical optics. Such fiber is
called multi-mode fiber, from the electromagnetic analysis.
• Multi-mode optical fiber is a type of optical fiber mostly used
for communication over short distances, such as within a
building or on a campus.

40
41
lipas.uwasa.fi/~TAU/AUTO3160/Slides/Miguel.pptx

Single mode vs. Multimode Fibers

Single-Mode Multimode
• Small core • Larger core than single mode cable.
• Less dispersion • Allows greater dispersion and therefore,
• Carry a single ray of light, usually loss of signal.
generated from a laser. • Used for shorter distance application,
• Employ for long distance applications but shorter than single-mode (up to
(100Km) 2Km)
• Uses as Backbone and distances of • It uses LED source that generates
several thousands meters. differtes angles along cable.
• Often uses in LANs or small distances
such as campus networks.
 Attenuation
• Attenuation -> transmission loss
• The ratio of the input (transmitted) optical power Pi into a
fiber to the output (received) optical power Po:

• In optical fiber communications the attenuation is usually

expressed in decibels per unit length (i.e. dB km−1) following:

• where αdB is the signal attenuation per unit length in decibels

which is also referred to as the fiber loss parameter and L is
the fiber length. 43
Attenuation
Attenuation in optical fiber is caused by
 Absorption (Intrinsic and extrinsic)
 Scattering (Rayleigh and Mie)
 Bending (Microbend and Macrobend)

44
 Material absorption losses in silica glass fibers

• Material absorption is a loss mechanism related to the

material composition and the fabrication process for the fiber
• Two types:
• Intrinsic - interaction with one or more of the major
components of the glass
• Extrinsic - impurities within the glass

• Intrinsic absorption:
• An absolutely pure silicate glass has little intrinsic absorption
due to its basic material structure in the near-infrared region.

45
46
Linear scattering losses
• One propagating mode to be transferred linearly into a
different mode
• Two major types:
• Rayleigh and Mie scattering.
• Rayleigh scattering:
• Rayleigh scattering is the dominant intrinsic loss mechanism in
the low-absorption window between the ultraviolet and
infrared absorption tails.

47
• The size of a scattering particle is often parameterized by
the ratio
• x=2πr/λ
• where r is its characteristic length (radius) and λ is
the wavelength of the light.

• Rayleigh scattering applies to the case when the scattering

particle is very small (x ≪ 1, with a particle size < 1/10
wavelength[4]) and the whole surface re-radiates with the
same phase.

48
• In optical fiber, for a single-component glass this is given by:

• where γR is the Rayleigh scattering coefficient, λ is the optical wavelength,

n is the refractive index of the medium, p is the average photoelastic
coefficient, βc is the isothermal compressibility at a fictive temperature TF,
and K is Boltzmann’s constant.

• The fictive temperature is defined as the temperature at which the glass

can reach a state of thermal equilibrium and is closely related to the
anneal temperature.

49
• Furthermore, the Rayleigh scattering coefficient is related to the
transmission loss factor (transmissivity) of the fiber following the
relation:

• where L is the length of the fiber.

• Example 3.1
• Example 3.2

50
• Mie scattering:
• The scattering created by inhomogeneities is called Mie scattering.
Depending upon the fiber material, design and manufacture, Mie
scattering can cause significant losses.

• The inhomogeneities may be reduced by:

• (a) removing imperfections due to the glass manufacturing
process;
• (b) carefully controlled extrusion and coating of the fiber;
• (c) increasing the fiber guidance by increasing the relative
refractive index difference.

51
Dispersion
Dispersion of the transmitted optical signal
causes distortion for both digital and analog
transmission along optical fibers.

 Intermodal dispersion
 Intra-modal dispersion
 Material dispersion
52
 Waveguide dispersion
• For no overlapping of light pulses down on an optical fiber
link the digital bit rate BT must be less than the reciprocal of
the broadened (through dispersion) pulse duration (2τ).

• This is the conservative estimate.

• The maximum bit rate is given approximately by considering
the light pulses at the output to have a Gaussian shape with
an rms width of σ.

53

• Example 3.5
Intermodal dispersion
 Results from the propagation delay difference between
modes
 Modes of light pulses that enter the fiber at one time, exit
the fiber at different times
 pulse width at the output is dependent upon the
transmission times of the slowest and fastest order modes

54
Intra-modal or chromatic dispersion
 Optical source emits a band of frequencies
 This type of dispersion depends primarily on fiber
materials
 Different spectral components travel trough different
materials and different waveguide structures at different
speeds
 There are two types of chromatic dispersion (material
dispersion and waveguide dispersion)
 Material dispersion is a function of the spectral width.
 WD occurs because propagation constant is a function of
the wavelength of operation
55
 Introduction
 The optical source is an optical fiber
communication system.
 It converts electrical energy into optical
energy (light).
Three main types of optical light source are
available. These are:
(a) wideband ‘continuous spectra’ sources
(b) monochromatic incoherent sources (light-
emitting diodes, LEDs);
56
(c) monochromatic coherent sources (lasers).
 Major requirements for an optical source
• 1. A size and configuration compatible with launching light
into an optical fiber. Ideally, the light output should be highly
directional.
• 2. Must accurately track the electrical input signal to
minimize distortion and noise. Ideally, the source should be
linear.
• 3. Should emit light at wavelengths where the fiber has low
losses and low dispersion and where the detectors are
efficient.
• 4. Preferably capable of simple signal modulation over a
wide bandwidth extending from audio frequencies to
beyond the gigahertz range. 57
• 5. Must couple sufficient optical power to overcome
attenuation in the fiber plus additional connector losses
and leave adequate power to drive the detector.
• 6. Should have a very narrow spectral bandwidth
(linewidth) in order to minimize dispersion in the fiber.
• 7. Must be capable of maintaining a stable optical
output which is largely unaffected by changes in
ambient conditions (e.g. temperature).
• 8. It is essential that the source is comparatively cheap
and highly reliable in order to compete with
conventional transmission techniques. 58
 Basic Principle
• Absorption and emission of radiation:
The interaction of light with matter takes place in
discrete packets of energy, called photons.
According to the quantum theory, atoms exist only in
certain discrete energy states such that absorption and
emission of light causes them to make a transition from
one discrete energy state to another.
The frequency of the absorbed or emitted radiation f is
expressed by:

• where h = 6.626 × 10−34 J.s is Planck’s constant. 59

• Different energy states -> different electron configurations.

• Single electron transition between two energy levels within

the atom will provide a change in energy suitable for the 60
absorption or emission of a photon.
61
• The emission process can occur in two ways:
• (a) by spontaneous emission in which the atom returns to
the lower energy state in an entirely random manner;

• (b) by stimulated emission when a photon having an energy

equal to the energy difference between the two states (E2 −
E1) interacts with the atom in the upper energy state causing
it to return to the lower state with the creation of a second
photon.

62
The Einstein relations
• Einstein mathematically demonstrated that the rates of
absorption, spontaneous emission and stimulated emission
were thermal equilibrium.
• the rate of the upward transitions must equal the rate of the
downward transitions.
• The population of the two energy levels of such a system is
described by Boltzmann statistics which give:

(6.2)

• where N1 and N2 represent the density of atoms in energy

levels E1 and E2, respectively, with g1 and g2 being the
63
corresponding degeneracies of the levels, K is Boltzmann’s
constant and T is the absolute temperature.
• Absorption rate:
• Density of atoms in the lower energy state is N1,
• the spectral density ρf of the radiation energy at the
transition frequency f.
• the upward transition or absorption rate R12 (indicating an
electron transition from level 1 to level 2) may be written as:

• where the constant of proportionality B12 is known as the

Einstein coefficient of absorption.

64
• The rate of stimulated downward transition:
• the rate of stimulated emission is given by N2ρf B21, where B21
is the Einstein coefficient of stimulated emission.
• The total transition rate from level 2 to level 1, R21, is the sum
of the spontaneous and stimulated contributions. Hence:

• Where A21, the Einstein coefficient of spontaneous emission, is

equal to the reciprocal of the spontaneous lifetime.

• A21 = 1/τ2

65
• For a system in thermal equilibrium, the upward and
downward transition rates must be equal and R12 = R21,:

and

(6.6)
• Substituting Eq. (6.2) into Eq. (6.6) gives:

(6.7)
66
 According to Planck spectral density

(6.8)

Comparing Eq. (6.8) with Eq. (6.7) we obtain the Einstein relations:

and

Example
6.1
The ratio of the stimulated emission rate is given by:

67
Threshold condition for laser oscillation
• Threshold gain within the amplifying medium must be
attained such that laser oscillations are initiated and
sustained.
• This threshold gain may be determined by considering
the change in energy of a light beam as it passes
through the amplifying medium.
• Hence the fractional loss incurred by the light beam is:

 single loss coefficient per unit length, α cm−1.

 medium length L 68
 the two mirrors which have reflectivities r1 and r2.
• Therefore if the gain coefficient per unit length produced
• by stimulated emission is , the fractional round trip gain is
given by:

• Hence:

• and:

• After rearranging the above expression Example

6.3
(6.20)

• The second term on the right hand side of Eq. (6.20) represents the 69
transmission loss through the mirrors
Semiconductor materials
• The semiconductor materials used for optical sources must
broadly fulfill several criteria.
• These are as follows:
• 1. p–n junction formation. The materials must lend
themselves to the formation of p–n junctions with suitable
characteristics for carrier injection.
• 2. Efficient electroluminescence. The devices fabricated must
have a high probability of radiative transitions.
• 3. Useful emission wavelength. The materials must emit light
at a suitable wavelength to be utilized with current optical
fibers and detectors (0.8 to 1.7 μm).
70
The semiconductor injection laser
• Major advantages over other semiconductor sources (e.g.
LEDs) that may be used for optical communications. These are
as follows:
• 1. High radiance due to the amplifying effect of stimulated
emission.
• 2. Narrow linewidth on the order of 1 nm (10 Å) or less which
is useful in minimizing the effects of material dispersion.
• 3. Modulation capabilities which at present extend up into the
gigahertz range and will undoubtedly be improved.
• 4. Relative temporal coherence which is considered essential
to allow heterodyne (coherent) detection in high-capacity
systems.
• 5. Good spatial coherence which allows the output to be
71
focused by a lens into a spot.
Efficiency
• the total efficiency (external quantum efficiency) ηT which is
• efficiency defined as:

• The external power efficiency of the device (or device

efficiency) ηep in converting electrical input to optical output
is given by:

Example
• where P = IV is the d.c. electrical input power. 6.5
• Using Eq. (6.39) for the total efficiency we find:
72
 LED Laser
• When conduction band electrons recombine with holes
in the valence band, photons are emitted.

• This is the mechanism by which light is emitted from an

LED.
• The LED can therefore operate at lower current densities
than the injection laser.
• But the emitted photons have random phases and the
device is an incoherent optical source.
• the energy of the emitted photons is only roughly equal
to the bandgap energy of the semiconductor material
73
• LEDs have several drawbacks in comparison with injection
lasers. These include:
• (a) generally lower optical power coupled into a fiber
(microwatts);
• (b) usually lower modulation bandwidth;
• (c) harmonic distortion.

74
• Advantages of LED:
• 1. Simpler fabrication. There are no mirror facets and in some
structures no striped
• geometry.
• 2. Cost. The simpler construction of the LED leads to much
reduced cost.
• 3. Reliability. The LED does not exhibit catastrophic
degradation and has proved far less sensitive to gradual
degradation than the injection laser.
• 4. Generally less temperature dependence. The light output
against current characteristic is less affected by temperature.
The LED is not a threshold device and therefore raising the
temperature does not increase the threshold current above
75
the operating point and hence halt operation.
• 5. Simpler drive circuitry. Generally lower drive currents and
reduced
• temperature dependence which makes temperature
compensation circuits unnecessary.
• 6. Linearity. Ideally, the LED has a linear light output against
current characteristic.

76
LED power and efficiency
• When there is a constant current flow into the junction
diode, an equilibrium condition is established.
• Hence a rate of carrier recombination can be expressed in
the form:

• (1)
the total carrier recombination lifetime.
• The condition for equilibrium is obtained by setting the
derivative in Eq. (1) to zero. Hence:

• (2)
77
• It is also apparent from Eq. (1) that in the steady state the
total number of carrier recombinations per second or the
recombination rate rt will be:

• (3) (4)

• where rr = radiative recombination rate per unit volume and

rnr = nonradiative recombination rate per unit volume.
• The total number of recombinations per second Rt becomes:
• (5)
forward-biased current = i
78
• The LED internal quantum efficiency ηint, which can be defined as
the ratio of the radiative recombination rate to the total
recombination rate, following Eq. (4) may be written as:
(6)

• where Rt is the total number of radiative recombinations per

second. Rearranging Eq. (6) and substituting from Eq. (5) gives:
(7)

• Since Rr = the total number of photons generated per second and

each photon has an energy equal to hf joules, then the optical
power generated internally by the LED, Pint, is:

79
(8)
• Power in terms of wavelength rather than frequency gives:
(9)

• Therefore, from Eq. (6) the internal quantum efficiency is:

the radiative minority carrier lifetime is
τr = Δn/rr and
the nonradiative minority carrier
(10)
lifetime is τnr = Δn/rnr.
• Furthermore, the total recombination lifetime τ can be
written as τ = Δn/rt which, using Eq. (7.5), gives:
(11)

• Hence Eq. (10) becomes: Example

7.1, 7.2 80
Optical Detector
• It converts the received optical signal into an electrical
signal, which is then amplified before further processing.
• Device types:
• In the near-infrared region -> both external and internal
photoemission of electrons may be utilized.
• External photoemission devices -> photomultiplier tubes and
vacuum photodiodes; bulky, and require high voltages.
• Internal photoemission devices -> semiconductor
photodiodes with or without internal (avalanche) gain; good
performance and compatibility with relatively low cost.
• Now, p–i–n and avalanche photodiodes (small wavelength
regions 0.8 to 0.9 μm, 1.3 μm and 1.55 μm).

81
 The p–i–n photodiode
• The n-type material is doped so lightly that it can be
considered intrinsic, and to make a low resistance contact a
highly doped n-type (n+) layer is added.

Photon
energy>Band
gap energy

ℎ𝑐
• 𝐸𝑝ℎ =
λ
• Photon energy is inversely proportional to the wavelength.
• The wavelength at which the photon energy = Band gap
energy; Called cut off wavelength .

82
• This creates a p–i–n (or PIN) structure, where all the
absorption takes place in the depletion region.
• Under strong electric field that was generated by reverse bias
potential difference across the device – photo current is
formed and the intensity is proportional to the number of
incident photons.

83
• two types of silicon p–i–n photodiode for operation in the
shorter wavelength band below 1.09 μm.

• The front-illuminated photodiode-> operating in the 0.8 to 0.9

μm band, depletion region 20-50 μm, high quantum efficiency
(typically 85%), response time <1 ns and low dark current (1
nA).
• Dark current arises from surface leakage currents as well as
84
generation–recombination currents in the depletion region in
the absence of illumination.
• The side-illuminated structure -> light is injected parallel to
the junction plane, exhibits a large absorption width (500
μm) and sensitive at wavelengths ~ bandgap limit (1.09 μm)
where the absorption coefficient is relatively small.

85
 Detector Noise
• The overall sensitivity of a photodiode results from the
random current and voltage fluctuations which occur at the
device output terminals in both the presence and absence of
an incident optical signal.

• The noise performance of optical detectors are: the noise

equivalent power (NEP); the detectivity (D); and the specific
detectivity (D*).

• The NEP is defined as the incident optical power, at a

particular wavelength, required to produce a photodetector
current equal to the rms noise current within a unit
bandwidth (i.e. B = 1 Hz).
86
• the output photocurrent is:
Where, the energy of a photon E = hf.
Ip is the output photocurrent (A) and Po is
the incident optical power (W)
e is the charge on an electron.
• the photocurrent Ip equal to the rms shot noise current:

photodiode received bandwidth=B

• Moreover, the photodiode average current Ῑ may be

represented by (Ip + Id) where Id is the dark current within the
device. Hence:
When Ip ≫
Id, then:

87
• Substituting Eq. (8.23) into Eq. (8.20) and putting B = 1 Hz
gives the NEP as:

• This is the NEP for an ideal photodetector when the

quantum efficiency η = 1.
• When Ip ≪ Id, then the photocurrent becomes:

• When the dark current noise is dominant, with B = 1 Hz gives

an expression for the NEP of:

• The detectivity D is defined as the inverse of the NEP. Thus:

88
Example 8.6
Preparation of optical fibers
• This is a two-stage process:
• Initially the pure glass is produced and converted into a form
(rod or preform) suitable for making the fiber.
• A drawing or pulling technique is then employed to acquire
the end product.

• The methods of preparing the extremely pure optical

glasses:
• (a) conventional glass refining techniques in which the glass
is processed in the molten state producing a
multicomponent glass structure;
• (b) vapor-phase deposition methods producing silica-rich
glasses which have melting temperatures that are too high to
89
allow the conventional melt process.
vapor-phase methods are widely used.
Optical fiber cables
• The functions of the optical cable:
• 1. Fiber protection -> to protect against fiber damage and
breakage both during installation and throughout the life of
the fiber.
• 2. Stability of the fiber transmission characteristics -> must
have good stable transmission characteristics. Increases in
optical attenuation.
• 3. Cable strength -> similar mechanical properties to
electrical transmission cables such as tension, torsion,
compression, bending, squeezing and vibration.
• 4. Identification and jointing of the fibers within the cable ->
If the fibers are arranged in a suitable geometry it may be
possible to use multiple jointing techniques rather than
jointing each fiber individually. 90
Fiber splices
• A permanent joint formed between two individual optical
fibers in the field or factory is known as a fiber splice.

• Splices may be divided into two broad categories depending

upon the splicing technique utilized. These are fusion splicing
or welding and mechanical splicing.

• Fusion splicing-> by applying localized heating at the

interface between two butted, prealigned fiber ends causing
them to soften and fuse.

• Mechanical splicing-> held in alignment by some mechanical

means, such as use of tubes around the fiber ends (tube
91
splices).
92
Fiber connectors
• Demountable fiber connectors are more difficult to achieve
than optical fiber splices.

• This is because they must maintain similar tolerance

requirements to splices in order to couple light between
fibers efficiently, but they must accomplish it in a removable
fashion.

• Also, the connector design must allow for repeated

connection and disconnection without problems of fiber
alignment.

• In order to maintain an optimum performance the 93

connection must also protect the fiber ends from damage.
• Optical fiber connectors may be considered in three major
areas, which are:

• (a) the fiber termination, which protects and locates the

fiber ends;

• (b) the fiber end alignment to provide optimum optical

coupling;

• (c) the outer shell, which maintains the connection and the
fiber alignment, protects the fiber ends from the
environment and provides adequate strength at the joint. 94
Fiber couplers
• An optical fiber coupler is a device that distributes light from
a main fiber into one or more branch fibers.*
• The latter case is more normal and such devices are known
as multiport fiber couplers.

• Optical fiber couplers are often passive devices in which the

power transfer takes place either:
• (a) through the fiber core cross-section by butt jointing the
fibers or
• (b) through the fiber surface and normal to its axis by
converting the guided core modes to both cladding and
refracted modes which then enable the power-sharing
mechanism (surface interaction type).
95
96
• Multiport optical fiber couplers can also be subdivided into
the following three main groups, as illustrated in Figure 5.27.

• 1. Three- and four-port* couplers, which are used for signal

splitting, distribution and combining.
• 2. Star couplers, which are generally used for distributing a
single input signal to multiple outputs.
• 3. Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) devices, which
are a specialized form of coupler designed to permit a
number of different peak wavelength optical signals to be
transmitted in parallel on a single fiber.

97
98
Integrated optics (IO)
• Integrated optics (IO) -> optical and electro-optical elements
integrated together and, recently, integrated photonics (IP).
• IP refers to the fabrication and integration of several or many
components onto a single planar substrate.
• Such components include beam splitters, couplers, gratings,
polarization controllers, interferometers, sources, detectors
and optical amplifiers.
• A complete system onto a single chip.
• Planar waveguides are fundamental elements for both IO
and IP device technologies.

99
 Beam Splitter
• Beam splitters are a basic element of many optical fiber
communication systems often providing a Y-junction by
which signals from separate sources can be combined, or the
received power divided between two or more channels.

• A

100