Report
Report
ABSTRACT
1. Introduction
Optical fibers are arguably one of the world’s most influential scientific developments from the latter
half of the 20th century. Normally we are unaware that we are using them, although many of us do
frequently. The majority of telephone calls and internet traffic at some stage in their journey will be
transmitted along an optical fiber. Why has the development of fibers been given so much attention by
the scientific community when we have alternatives? The main reason is bandwidth – fibers can carry an
extremely large amount of information. More indirectly, many of the systems that we either rely on or
enjoy in everyday life such as banks, television and newspapers as (to name only a very limited
selection) are themselves dependent on communication systems that are dependent on optical fibers.
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2. Fundamentals of Fibers
The fundamental principle that makes optical fibers possible is total internal reflection.
From Snell’s Law we find that refraction (as shown by the dashed line) can only occur when the angle
theta1 is large enough. This implies that as the angle is reduced, there must be a point when the light
ray is reflected, where theta1 = theta2.
The angle where this happens is known as the critical angle and is:
When an 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
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 fiber is bend.
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Acceptance Angle:
the optical fiber ,at which light may enter the fiber, in order to be
Numerical Aperture:
V number is also related with the number of modes is the fiber as:
1. MATERIAL USED
3. REFRACTIVE INDEX
A. GLASS FIBERS:
THEY HAVE A GLASS CORE AND GLASS CLADDING. THE GLASS USED IN THE FIBER IS ULTRA PURE,
ULTRA TRANSPARENT SILICON DIOXIDE (SIO2) OR FUSED QUARTZ. IMPURITIES ARE PURPOSELY
THIS FIBER HAS A GLASS CORE AND PLASTIC CLADDING. THIS PERFORMANCE THOUGH NOT AS GOOD
C. PLASTIC FIBERS:
THEY HAVE A PLASTIC CORE AND PLASTIC CLADDING. THESE FIBERS ARE ATTRACTIVE IN
APPLICATIONS WHERE HIGH BANDWIDTH AND LOW LOSS ARE NOT A CONCERN.
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In single mode fiber only one mode can propagate through the fiber.
It has small core diameter (5um) and high cladding diameter (70um).
Difference between the refractive index of core and cladding is very small.
There is neither dispersion nor degradation therefore it is suitable for long distance
communication.
The light is passed through the single mode fiber through laser diode.
It allows a large number of modes for light ray travelling through it.
The relative refractive index difference is also large than single mode fiber.
---Adams, M. J.