Chapter 2

Light Propagation In
Optical Fiber

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Introduction
An optical fiber is a very thin strand of silica glass in geometry quite
like a human hair. In reality it is a very narrow, very long glass
cylinder with special characteristics. When light enters one end of the
fiber it travels (confined within the fiber) until it leaves the fiber at the
other end. Two critical factors stand out:

Very little light is lost in its journey along the fiber

Fiber can bend around corners and the light will stay within it and be
guided around the corners.

An optical fiber consists of two parts: the core and the cladding. The
core is a narrow cylindrical strand of glass and the cladding is a
tubular jacket surrounding it. The core has a (slightly) higher
refractive index than the cladding. This means that the boundary
(interface) between the core and the cladding acts as a perfect mirror.
Light traveling along the core is confined by the mirror to stay within
it - even when the fiber bends around a corner.

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BASIC PRINCIPLE

When a light ray travelling in one material hits a different

material and reflects back into the original material without
any loss of light, total internal reflection is said to occur.
Since the core and cladding are constructed from different
compositions of glass, theoretically, light entering the core
is confined to the boundaries of the core because it reflects
back whenever it hits the cladding.
For total internal reflection to occur, the index of refraction
of the core must be higher than that of the cladding, and
the incidence angle is larger than the critical angle.
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What Makes The Light Stay in Fiber

Refraction
The light waves spread out along its beam.
Speed of light depend on the material used called refractive index.
Speed of light in the material = speed of light in the free
space/refractive index

Lower refractive index higher speed

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The Light is Refracted

Lower Refractive index Region

This end travels

further than the
other hand

Higher Refractive index Region

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Total Internal Reflection

Total internal reflection reflects 100% of the light
A typical mirror only reflects about 90%
Fish tank analogy

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Refraction
When a light ray encounters a boundary separating two
different media, part of the ray is reflected back into the
first medium and the remainder is bent (or refracted) as it
enters the second material. (Light entering an optical fiber
bends in towards the center of the fiber refraction)
Refraction

LED or
LASER
Source
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Reflection
Light inside an optical fiber bounces off the cladding reflection

Reflection

LED or
LASER
Source
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Critical Angle
If light inside an optical fiber strikes the cladding too steeply,
the light refracts into the cladding - determined by the critical
angle. (There will come a time when, eventually, the angle of
refraction reaches 90o and the light is refracted along the
boundary between the two materials. The angle of incidence
which results in this effect is called the critical angle).
n1Sin X=n2Sin90o

Critical Angle
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Angle of Incidence
Also incident angle
Measured from perpendicular
Exercise: Mark two more incident angles

Incident Angles

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Angle of Reflection
Also reflection angle
Measured from perpendicular
Exercise: Mark the other reflection angle

Reflection Angle

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Reflection
Thus light is perfectly reflected at an interface
between two materials of different refractive
index if:
The light is incident on the interface from
the side of higher refractive index.
The angle is greater than a specific value
called the critical angle.

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Angle of Refraction
Also refraction angle
Measured from perpendicular
Exercise: Mark the other refraction angle

Refraction Angle

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Angle Summary
Three important angles
The reflection angle always equals the incident angle
Refraction Angle
Incident Angles

Reflection Angle

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Index of Refraction
n = c/v
c = velocity of light in a vacuum
v = velocity of light in a specific medium
light bends as it passes from one medium to another with
a different index of refraction
air, n is about 1
glass, n is about 1.4

Light bends
away from
normal - higher
n to lower n

Light bends in towards normal lower n to higher n

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Snells Law
The angles of the rays are measured with respect to the
normal.
n1sin 1=n2sin 2
Where
n1 and n2 are refractive index of two materials
1and 2 the angle of incident and refraction respectively

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Snells Law
The amount light is bent by refraction is given by Snells Law:
n1sin1 = n2sin2
Light is always refracted into a fiber (although there will be a
certain amount of Fresnel reflection)
Light can either bounce off the cladding (TIR) or refract into the
cladding

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Snells Law

Normal

Refraction
Angle(2)
Lower Refractive index(n2)

Ray of light

Higher Refractive index(n1)

Incidence
Angle(1)

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Snells Law (Example 1)

Calculate the angle of refraction at the air/core interface
Solution - use Snells law: n1sin1 = n2sin2
1sin(30) = 1.47sin(refraction)
refraction = sin-1(sin(30)/1.47)
refraction = 19.89
nair = 1
ncore = 1.47
ncladding = 1.45
incident = 30

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Snells Law (Example 2)

Calculate the angle of refraction at the core/cladding interface
Solution - use Snells law and the refraction angle from Example 3.1
1.47sin(90 - 19.89) = 1.45sin(refraction)
refraction = sin-1(1.47sin(70.11)/1.45)

refraction = 72.42

nair = 1
ncore = 1.47
ncladding = 1.45
incident = 30

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Snells Law (Example 3)

Calculate the angle of refraction at the core/cladding interface for the new data below
Solution: 1sin(10) = 1.45sin(refraction(core))
refraction(core) = sin-1(sin(10)/1.45) = 6.88
1.47sin(90-6.88) = 1.45sin(refraction(cladding))
refraction(cladding) = sin-1(1.47sin(83.12)/1.45)
= sin-1(1.0065) = cant do
light does not refract into
cladding, it reflects back
into the core (TIR)

nair = 1
ncore = 1.47
ncladding = 1.45
incident = 10
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Critical Angle Calculation

The angle of incidence that produces an angle of refraction of 90 is the critical angle
n1sin(c) = n2sin()
n1sin(c) = n2
c = sin-1(n2 /n1)
Light at incident angles
greater than the critical
angle will reflect back
into the core

n1 = Refractive index of the core

n2 = Refractive index of the cladding

Critical Angle, c

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NA Derivation

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Acceptance Angle and NA

The angle of light entering
a fiber which follows the
critical angle is called the
acceptance angle,
= sin-1[(n12-n22)1/2]
Numerical Aperature
(NA)
describes the lightgathering ability of a fiber
NA = sin
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n1 = Refractive index of the core

n2 = Refractive index of the cladding
Acceptance Angle,

Critical Angle, c
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Numerical Aperture
The Numerical Aperture is the sine of the largest angle contained
within the cone of acceptance.
NA is related to a number of important fiber characteristics.
It is a measure of the ability of the fiber to gather light at the
input end.
The higher the NA the tighter (smaller radius) we can have
bends in the fiber before loss of light becomes a problem.
The higher the NA the more modes we have, Rays can bounce
at greater angles and therefore there are more of them. This
means that the higher the NA the greater will be the dispersion
of this fiber (in the case of MM fiber).
Thus higher the NA of SM fiber the higher will be the
attenuation of the fiber
Typical NA for single-mode fiber is 0.1. For multimode, NA is between
0.2 and 0.3 (usually closer to 0.2).
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Acceptance Cone
There is an imaginary cone of acceptance with an angle
The light that enters the fiber at angles within the
acceptance cone are guided down the fiber core

Acceptance Angle,
Acceptance Cone

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Acceptance Cone

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Formula Summary
Index of Refraction

Snells Law

Critical Angle

Acceptance Angle

Numerical Aperture

c
n
v
n1 sin 1 n2 sin 2

n2

c sin
n1
1

sin 1 n12 n22

NA sin n12 n22

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Practice Problems

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Practice Problems (1)

What happens to the light which approaches the fiber outside

of the cone of acceptance? The angle of incidence is 30o as in
Fig.1 (calculate the angle of refraction at the air/core interface,
r/ critical angle, c/ incident angle at the core/cladding
interface, i/) does the TIR will occur?

Practice Problems (2)

Calculate:
angle of refraction at the
air/core interface, r
critical angle , c
incident angle at the
core/cladding interface , i
Will this light ray propagate
down the fiber?

core/cladding interface

air/core interface
nair = 1
ncore = 1.46
ncladding = 1.43
incident = 12

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Answers:
r = 8.2
c = 78.4
i = 81.8
light will propagate

33

Refractive Indices and Propagation Times

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Propagation Time Formula

Metallic cable propagation delay
cable dimensions
frequency

Optical fiber propagation delay

related to the fiber material
formula

t = Ln/c

t = propagation delay in seconds

L = fiber length in meters
n = refractive index of the fiber core
c = speed of light (2.998 x 108 meters/second)

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Temperature and Wavelength

Considerations for detailed analysis
Fiber length is slightly dependent on temperature
Refractive index is dependent on wavelength

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Classification of Optical Fiber

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 Three common type of fiber in terms of the

material used:

Glass core with glass cladding all glass or

silica fiber
Class core with plastic cladding plastic
cladded/coated silica (PCS)
Plastic core with plastic cladding all plastic or
polymer fiber

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All glass fiber

The refractive index range of glass is limited which causes
the refractive index difference n1-n2 to be small.
This small value then reduces the light coupling efficiency of
the fiber, i.e. large loss of light during coupling.
The attenuation is the lowest compared to the other two fibers
making it suitable for long and high capacity.
Typical size: 10/125m, 62.5/125m, 50/125m and
100/140m.
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Plastic Clad Silica (PCS)

This fiber have higher loss than the all glass fiber and is
suitable for shorter links.
Normally, the range of refractive index achievable with
plastic fibers are large.
A larger range for the value of refractive index difference.
Light coupling efficiency is better.
Typical size: 62.5/125m, 50/125m, 100/140m 200m.

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All-plastic fiber
This type has the highest loss during transmission.
Normally used for very short links.
Large core size, therefore light coupling efficiency is high
The core size can be as large as 1mm.

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Plastic and Silica Fibers

Other fibers
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Dispersion compensating fibers

Dispersion flattened fiber
Polarization-maintaining fibers
Bend-insensitive and coupling fibers
Reduced-cladding fibers
Doped fibers for amplifiers and lasers
Fiber gratings and photosensitive fibers
Holey Fiber

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1. Dispersion compensating fibers: fiber with very high

negative waveguide dispersion used to cancel the positive
chromatic dispersion. Insert a DCF after a normal fiber.
2. Polarization-maintaining fibers, also known as polarization
preserving fiber: Fiber designed to cope with polarization
mode dispersion (PMD). Mainly used in sensors and optical
devices that require polarization control. Gyroscope,
modulators and couplers.
3. Bend-insensitive and coupling fibers. High coupling
efficiency and low bend loss. Used in pigtails, short
connection inside optical transmitters, receivers and other
devices. Can bend at sharper angle.
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4. Reduced-cladding fibers: Has smaller cladding diameter

(typically 80 m) to offer higher packing density and greater
flexibility than standard fibers.
5. Doped fibers for amplifiers and lasers: Fibers that are doped
with materials (Erbium, praseodymium, thulium, ytterbium
and neodymium) that can be stimulated to emit light. Used as
optical amplifiers and fiber lasers.
6. Fiber gratings and photosensitive fibers: Grating are optical
filter that reflects certain wavelength and allows transmission
of others. Photosensitive fibers are sensitive to UV light and
are used to fabricate fiber gratings.
7. Holey Fiber: hollow core surrounded by a photonic bandgap
cladding
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Step Index Fibers

The optical fiber with a core of constant refractive index n1
and a cladding of a slightly lower refractive index n2 is known
as step index fiber.
This is because the refractive index profile for this type of
fiber makes a step change at the core-cladding interface as
indicated in Fig which illustrates the two major types of step
index fiber.
The refractive index profile may be defined as
n(r) =

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n1
n2

r < a (core)
r a (cladding)
46

(a)

(b)

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Figure.2.6

47

Fig 2.6(b) shows a multimode step index fiber with a core

diameter of around 50m or greater, which is large enough to
allow the propagation of many modes within the fiber core. It
illustrates the many different possible ray paths through the fiber.
Fig 2.6(a) shows a single mode or monomode step index fiber
which allows the propagation of only one transverse
electromagnetic mode and hence the core diameter must be of the
order of 2-10m.
The propagation of a single mode is illustrated in Fig 2.6 (a) as
corresponding to a single ray path only (usually shown as the
axial ray) through the fiber.

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The single mode step index fiber has the distinct advantage of
low intermodal dispersion as only one mode is transmitted.
In multimode step index fiber considerable dispersion may
occur due to the differing group velocities of the propagating
modes.
This is turn restricts the maximum bandwidth attainable with
multimode step index fibers, especially when compared with
single mode fibers.

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 Lower bandwidth applications multimode fibers have

several advantages over single mode fibers:
1.The use of spatially incoherent optical sources (e.g.
most light emitting diodes which cannot be efficiently
coupled to single mode fibers.
2.Larger numerical apertures, as well as core diameters,
facilitating easier coupling to optical sources.
3.Lower tolerance requirements on fiber connectors

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Single Mode Step Index fiber

The advantage of the propagation of a single mode within an optical fiber
is the signal dispersion caused by the delay differences between different
modes in a multimode fiber may be avoided. Thus achieving a large BW.
In describing SMF, a parameter known as mode-field diameter (MFD) is
used. In a SMF light travels mostly within the core and partially within the
cladding. MFD is a function of the wavelength.

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Illustration of Mode-Field Diameter (MFD)

Mode-field diameter is a measure of the
spot size or beam width of light
propagating in a single-mode fiber.
Mode-field diameter is a function of
source wavelength, fiber core radius, and
fiber refractive index profile. The vast
majority of the optical power propagates
within the fiber core, and a small portion
propagates in the cladding near the core
(Figure 1)

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53


The beams travel at distinct propagating angles
ranging from zero to critical value.

These different beams are called modes.

The smaller the propagating angle, the lower the

mode.

The mode traveling precisely along the axis is zero- order

mode or the fundamental.
Hence for the transmission of a single mode the fiber must be
designed to allow propagation of only one mode, whilst all other
modes are attenuated by leakage or absorption.

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55

 This may be achieved through a suitable choice of

normalized frequency, V for the fiber. For single mode
operation, only the fundamental TE01 mode can exist. The
cutoff normalized frequency for the TE01 mode occurs at
V=2.405. Thus single mode propagation is possible over the
range:
0 V < 2.405
For single-mode operation, the normalized frequency should
be V 2.40.

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In an optical fiber, the normalized frequency, V also called the V

number, is given by

where a is the core radius, is the wavelength in vacuum, n1 is the

maximum refractive index of the core, n2 is the refractive index of
the homogeneous cladding, and applying the usual definition of the
n n
aperture NA.
numerical

2
1

2
2

2 n12

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Multimode Step Index Fiber

Multimode step index fibers allow the propagation of a
finite number of guided modes along the channel.
The number of guided modes is dependent upon the
physical parameters :
1-Relative refractive index difference,
2- core radius (n1) of the fiber
3- The wavelength of the transmitted light.

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 it can be shown that the total number of guided modes (or mode volume)
Ms , for the step index fiber is related to the v value for the fiber by
approximate expression:
Ms V2
2

Which allows an estimate of the number of guided modes propagating in a

particular multimode step index fiber.

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Multimode Graded Index Fibers (GRIN)

GRIN fibers do not have a constant refractive index in the
core but a decreasing core index n(r) with a radial distance
from a maximum value of n1 at the axis to a constant value
n2 beyond the core radius, a in the cladding.
This index variation may b presented as:

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 is the relative refractive index difference and is the profile

parameter which gives the refractive index profile of the fiber core.
The equation above is a convenient method of expressing the
refractive index profile of the fiber core as a variation of allows
representation of
Step index profile when = , a parabolic profile when = 2
and a triangular profile when = 1.
This range of refractive index profile is illustrated in Fig 2.7.

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62

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63

The graded index profiles which at present produce the best results
for multimode optical propagation have a near parabolic refractive
index profile core with = 2.
A multimode graded index fiber with a parabolic index profile core is
illustrated in fig 2.8. It may be observed that the meridional rays shown
appear to follow curved paths through the fiber core.
Using the concepts of geometric optics, the gradual decrease in
refractive index from the center of the core creates many refractions of
the rays as they are effectively incident on a large number of high to
low index interfaces.

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Propagation in a Graded index fiber: showing a decreasing

number of refractive index changes n1 to n6 for the fiber axis to the
cladding. Result in a gradual change in the direction of the ray,
rather than the sharp change that occurs in a step index fiber

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Figure 2.10 Two types of fiber: (Top) step index fiber; (Bottom)
Graded index fiber

 This mechanism is illustrated in Fig 2.9 where a ray is shown to

be gradually curved, with an ever-increasing angle of incidence, until
the conditions for total internal reflection are met, and the ray travels
back towards the core axis again being continuously refracted.
Although many modes are exited into a graded index fiber, the
different group velocities of modes tend to be normalized by the
index grading.
Parameter defined for the step index fiber may be applied to graded
index fibers and give a comparison between them.
However, for the graded index fibers the situation is more
complicated since the numerical aperture is a function of the radial
distance from the fiber axis.

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 Graded index fiber therefore accept less light than

corresponding step index fibers with the same relative
refractive index difference.
To support single mode transmission in a graded index
fiber, the normalized frequency is:

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For the parabolic profile, the numerical aperture is given by:

This shown that the NA is a function of the radial distance

from the fiber axis (r/a)
The NA drops to zero at the edge of the core.

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Therefore, it is possible to determine fiber parameters which

will give single mode operation.
For multimode graded index fibers, the total number of the
guided modes, Mg is also related to the V value for the fiber
by approximate expression

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