Optical Fiber Communication (EEE 4175)

Lecture 2: Ray Theory_Part 1

Dr. A K M Baki
Dr. A K M Baki

Optical Principles

Light
Light waves are very short and are usually expressed in

nanometers or micrometers.
Visible light is in the 400- to 700-nm range.
Another unit of measure for light wavelength is the
angstrom (). One angstrom is equal to 10-10 m.
Light waves travel in a straight line as microwaves do.
The speed of light is approximately 300,000,000 m/s, or
about 186,000 mi/s, in free space (in air or a vacuum).
The speed of light depends upon the medium through
which the light passes.

Optical Principles

Physical Optics
Physical optics refers to the ways that light can be

processed.
Light can be processed or manipulated in many ways.
Lenses are widely used to focus, enlarge, or decrease
the size of light waves from some source.

Optical Principles

Physical Optics: Reflection

The simplest way of manipulating light is to reflect it.
When light rays strike a reflective surface, the light waves

are thrown back or reflected. By using mirrors, the

direction of a light beam can be changed.
The law of reflection states that if the light ray strikes a
mirror at some angle A from the normal, the reflected
light ray will leave the mirror at the same angle B=A to
the normal.
In other words, the angle of incidence is equal to the
angle of reflection.
A light ray from the light source is called an incident ray.

Optical Principles

Figure: Illustrating reflection and refraction at the interface of two optical materials.

Optical Principles

Physical Optics: Refraction

The direction of the light ray can also be changed by

refraction, which is the bending of a light ray that occurs

when the light rays pass from one medium to another.
Refraction occurs when light passes through
transparent material such as air, water, and glass.
Refraction takes place at the boundary where two
different substances come together.
Refraction occurs because light travels at different
speeds in different materials.

Optical Principles
Examples of the effect of refraction.

Optical Principles

Physical Optics: Refraction

The amount of refraction of the light of a material is

usually expressed in terms of the index of refraction n.

This is the ratio of the speed of light in air to the
speed of light in the substance.
It is also a function of the light wavelength.

Refractive Index

When light passes through a clear material, it slows down

by
an amount dependent upon a
property
of
the
material called the refractive index.
For most materials that we use in
refractive index is in the region of 1.5.

optical fibers, the

Refractive Index = Speed of light in free space/Speed of light in material

or n=c/v

Lower refractive index

= higher speed

Refractive Index

10

If a ray of light enters from a material

of
higher refractive index to
another material with a lower index, it moves faster in the medium with
lower refractive index.
It can be seen that the distances between the successive wave crests, or
wavelength, will increase as soon as the light moves into the second
material.
The direction that the light approaches
two materials is very significant.

the

boundary between the

Refractive Index For Some 11

Materials

Glass has many compositions, each with slightly different n. An

approximate refractive index of 1.5 is representative for silica glasses
used in fiber. More precise values for these glasses lie between
1.45~1.48.

Snells Law

12

Willebrord Snell, a Dutch astronomer, discovered that there was a

relationship between the refractive indices of the materials and the sine of
the angles. He made this discovery in the year 1621.
Snells law states the relationship as:

Where: n1 and n2 are the refractive indices of the two materials, and sin 1
and sin 2 are the angles of incidence and refraction respectively.
Snell's law will apply to the refraction of light in any situation,
regardless of what the two media are.

Snells Law

13

Snells Law: Example

14

Do
n

ei

nt

he

cla
ss
.

Calculate the angle shown as 2. The first material has a refractive

index of 1.51 and the angle of incidence is 38 and the second
material has a refractive index of 1.46.

Critical Angle and Total Internal

Reflection

15

As the angle of incidence in the first material is increased, there will come
a time when, eventually, the angle of refraction reaches 90 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. We can
calculate the value of the critical angle by assuming the angle of
refraction to be 90 and transposing Snells law:

Critical Angle: Example

16

Do
n

ei

nt

he

cla
ss
.

A light ray is traveling in a transparent material of refractive index 1.51

and approaches a second material of refractive index 1.46. Calculate the
critical angle.

Total Internal Reflection

17

At angles of incidence > c, the light is totally reflected back

into the incident higher refractive index medium. This is
known as total internal reflection.

18

Guiding Condition of Light Ray

Any ray launched at an angle greater than the critical angle will be
propagated along the optic fiber.

At The End Of This Lecture

19

The Students Should Know:

Components of data/telecommunications
Applications of network
Advantages of fiber optic communications
BW of optical spectrum
Refractive index/refraction/Snells law/reflection/critical
angle/TIR
Speed of light in a medium with refractive index n>1
Optics/photonic components

Suggested Books

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1. John M. Senior, Optical Fiber Communications - Principles and

Practice, Prentice Hall, Latest Edition.
2. Gerd Keiser, Optical Fiber Communications, McGraw-Hill, Latest
Edition.
3. Govind P. Agrawal, Fiber-Optic Communication Systems, John Wiley
& Sons, Inc., Latest Edition.