Optical Communications

and Networking
ELG4178 A
Prof. Sawsan Abdul-Majid, P. Eng. SMIEEE
Faculty of Engineering
University of Ottawa
Winter 2021
www.ancwt.ca
 Fiber modes
Optical mode : refers to a specific solution of the wave
equation , that satisfied special conditions that its
distributions does not change with propagation.
The mode represents field configuration which propagates
along the fiber without any changes in the polarization or in
field distribution expect for change in phase
The fiber modes can be classified to:
❑Guided mode
❑Leakey mode and
❑Radiation modes
Guided modes in optical fiber | Fiberlabs Inc
Guided Mode : Each potential path that light propagates
through in an optical fiber is known as a guided mode of the
fiber. Depending on the physical dimensions of the
core/cladding regions, refractive index, and wavelength,
anything from one to thousands of modes can be supported
within a single optical fiber.
 Fiber modes can be:
➢ Guided modes
➢ Radiation modes, and Leaky modes

➢ A leaky mode or tunneling mode is a mode having an electric field that

decays monotonically for a finite distance in the transverse direction but
becomes oscillatory everywhere beyond that finite distance.
➢ Such a mode gradually "leaks" out of the waveguide as it travels down it,
producing attenuation even if the waveguide is perfect in every respect
Mode-field
Diameter (2W0)

In a Single Mode Fiber,

E (r ) = E0 exp( −r 2 / w02 )

At r = wo, E(Wo)=Eo/e

Typically Wo > a
 Polarizations of fundamental
mode

Two polarization states TM and TE exist in the

fundamental mode in a single mode fiber
 Normalized Frequency
https://www.photonics.com/EDU/Term.aspx?TermID=1619

Normalized Frequency V:
Also referred to as the V number in fiber optics; the normalized frequency is a
dimensionless quantity, denoted by the symbol V.
For a multimode fiber, the mode volume of that fiber, which is the approximate
number of bound modes within that fiber is directionally proportional to the
normalized frequency.

For a single-mode fiber, it is required that the normalized frequency, satisfies

the condition V < 2.4048.

For a step index fiber, the mode volume of that fiber is directionally
proportional to the square of the normalized frequency, that is V2 .
 Propagation constant

Electric filed of an electromagnetic plane wave propagating in z direction is give by,

1/29/2021
E = Eo cos(ωt−βz) where, β = ( 2π/λ ) m−1 is the propagation constant
ω = 2πν = 2πc/λ rad/m is the angular frequency.
Eo is the peak amplitude.

The phase velocity vp is defined only when there is a single electromagnetic wave.
P is a point of constant phase or the wave front.
At point P, (ωt−βz) = constant at any time.
Therefore, the phase velocity
vp = dz/ dt= ω/β
Note, vp = c = 3×108 m/s is the speed of light in free space.

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Normalized propagation constant

ß is the propagation constant

n` is the mode index or effective index.
Mode is uniquely determined by its
propagation constant ß.
n`= ß/ K0, called mode index or effective
index . Each fiber mode propagates with an
effective refractive index ,
where n > n`> n
Normalized
propagation
constant b

Normalized frequency v
 Fiber modes
•
Fiber Key Parameters 1
Fiber parameters 2

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 Calculating Fiber Modes

Fiber modes can be calculated using OptiFiber software , from

Optiwave corporation

1/29/2021
https://optiwave.com/optifiber-manuals/optical-fiber-calculating-
fiber-modes/

Sawsan Abdul-majid
13
Power in the cladding

Lower order modes have higher power in the cladding → larger MFD
Cladding Power Vs
Normalized Frequency

Modes

Vc = 2.4
 Fiber non linarites
Fiber nonlinearities :

Unwanted effect , occur when optical signals are strong, which limits the upper boundary
of signal power in fiber transmissions.
Nonlinear relationship between refractive index , that is controlled by the power value
and the effective area of fiber core

n=no + n2.P/Aeff
• no- the refractive index of the fiber core at low optical level.
• n2- the nonlinear refractive index coefficient
• P the optical power
• Aeff The effective area of the fiber core in square meters
• The nonlinearities could be eliminated by min. P or max. Aeff.
• The recent technologies are considering maximizing Aeff.
Fiber no linearities types
• SBS Stimulated Brillouin Scattering
• SRS Stimulated Raman Scattering
• FWM Four wave mixing
• SPM self phase modulation
• XPM cross phase modulation
• Inter modulation (mixing)
 SBS Stimulated Brillion Scattering
• Imposes an upper limit on the amount of optical
power that can be usefully lunched into an optical
fiber.
• When SBS threshold exceeded, a significant fraction of
transmitted power is redirected back toward the
transmitter.
• This results in back reflection, and saturation in the
optical power reaches the receiver.
• Significant noise will be introduced which will lower
Bit error rate BER.
• Brillion scattering are inelastic processes in which part of the power is
lost from an optical wave and absorbed by the transmission medium
while the remaining energy is re-emitted as a wave of lower frequency.
• The processes can be thought of as the conversion of an incident
photon into a lower energy scattered photon plus a phonon of
vibrational energy.
• Total energy and momentum before and after scattering must be equal,
i.e. the incident photon energy is shared between the phonon and the
scattered photon.
• Since the frequency of an optical wave is proportional to its energy, the
photon produced by the scattering event has a lower frequency than
the incident photon.
• This frequency downshifted wave is commonly referred to as the Stokes
wave.
• A phonon is a quantum mechanical description of an elementary
vibrational motion in which a lattice of atoms or molecules uniformly
oscillates at a single frequency.
 SRS Stimulated Raman
Scattering
• Causes less problem than SBS
• Its threshold near 1 watt.
• Useful in EDFA( Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifiers) implementation.
• Below the threshold, the SRS rob power from shorter wavelength
channels and feed the longer wavelength channels.
• Limits the amount of the power that reaches the receiver above the
threshold.
• SBS threshold is strongly dependent on the line width of the optical
source.
 SBS and SRS Unwanted effects from

• Both SBS and SRS have so-called threshold pump powers above which
power transfer to the Stokes wave increases rapidly.
• In SBS this means that the amount of optical power leaving the far
end of the fiber no longer increases linearly with the input power. The
maximum launch power becomes clamped and excess power is
simply reflected back out of the fibre.
• A major difference between Brillouin scattering and Raman scattering
lies in the type of phonon generated –

• high-energy optical phonons in SRS and lower-energy acoustical

phonons in SBS.
 Important Notes
• Single mode optical fibers will support low-loss
propagation for waves traveling almost parallel to the fiber
axis.
• Consequently, scattered radiation in either the forward or
backward directions relative to the incident wave will be
guided within the fiber and will co-propagate with the
pump wave over long distances.
 FWM FOUR WAVE MIXING
• Appears only in fiber optic transmission systems that carry lots of
wavelengths , multi wavelength systems( WDM) Wave Division
Multiplexing)

Caused by the nonlinear nature of refractive index.

• Result in producing subcomponents with frequencies different than
the original ones.
• Two important factors:

1- Channel spacing is an important factor affects FWM. Closer channel

spacing will increase the mixing.
2- Fiber dispersion is the second factor.
Mixing efficiency is inversely proportional to the fiber dispersion.
 SPM SELF PHASE
MODULATION
• Due to the power dependency of refractive index of the fiber core.
• Related to interaction effect with fiber dispersion.
• Increasing the dispersion, will increase the SPM.
• When a pulse travel down the fiber, each end changes the refractive
index, which will cause pulse broadening.
• Affect only one pulse
 XPM CROSS PHASE
MODULATION
• Similar to SPM. Needs more than one pulse .
• As an optical power varies each pulse changes the refractive index, to
cause pulse broadening. When the two pulses overlap, distortion will
be introduced.
• Increasing the fiber effective area will reduce XPM and all other
nonlinearities.
 Inter modulation Mixing
• Similar to XPM except that it causes new frequency
components to appear that are cross products of the original
frequencies..
Specialty Fibers with Different Index Profiles

1300 nm optimized

Dispersion Shifted
Specialty Fibers with Different Index Profiles

Dispersion
Flattened

Large area dispersion shifted Large area dispersion flattened

 Notes
1- The cladding diameter is the key number in choosing the fiber connector.
2- Plastic cladding, Silica core ( PSC), could be used when higher nuclear
radiation levels may be present.
• All plastic fibers cost less, but they are limited to short distances only(
few meters).
• Glass core and Glass cladding are the most suitable fibers for fiber optics
applications.
3- Band width-distance products tell how much information can be carried
per second on a single fiber.
4- Fiber loss , depends on the operating wavelength.
5- The low temperatures will effect the fiber performance badly since , the
cable material becomes stiff and put fiber under stress
 More reading
• Reading, text book
• Chapter 2, with special focus on fiber modes