NEETS 24 Fiber Optics Flashcards
the branch of optical technology concerned with the transmission of radiant power (light energy) through fibers.
Fiber Optics
to convert
an electrical input signal to an optical signal, send the
optical signal over an optical fiber, and convert the
optical signal back to an electrical signal
basic functions of a fiber optic data link
The three parts of a fiber optic data link
Transmitter
Optical Fiber
Receiver
mechanisms in the fiber waveguides weaken and distort the optical signal?
Scattering
absorption
dispersion
effect does noise have on the fiber optic signal
Noise obscures or reduces the quality of the signal.
the decrease in the amount of light reaching the
end of the fiber.
loss
In 1969, what did several scientists conclude about
optical fiber loss?
Impurities in the fiber material caused the signal loss in
optical fibers. The basic fiber material did not prevent
the light signal from reaching the end of the fiber.
How can loss be reduced during construction (or
fabrication) of optical fibers?
By removing the impurities from optical fiber.
What are the two basic types of optical Fibers?
Multimode
Single Mode Fibers
Which type of optical fiber (multimode or single mode)
tends to have lower loss and produces less signal
distortion?
Single mode fiber.
What optical fiber properties reduce connection loss
in short-distance systems?
Larger fiber core and higher fiber numerical aperture (NA).
In fiber optic systems, designers consider what
trade-offs?
Trade-offs in fiber properties, types of connections,
optical sources, and detector types in military
and subscriber-loop applications.
List seven advantages of fiber optics over electrical
systems.
*Improved system performance
*Immunity to electrical noise
*Signal security
*Electrical isolation *Reduced size and weight
*Environmental
protection
*Overall system economy.
Quantum physics successfully explained the
photoelectric effect in terms of fundamental particles of
energy called quanta. What are the fundamental particles
of energy (quanta) known as when referring to light energy?
Photons.
What type of wave motion is represented by the motion
of water?
Transverse-wave motion.
When light waves encounter any substance, what four
things can happen?
Light waves are either transmitted, refracted, reflected,
or absorbed.
A substance that transmits almost all of the light waves
falling upon it is known as what type of substance?
Transparent.
A substance that is unable to transmit any light waves
is known as what type of substance?
Opaque.
What is the law of reflection?
The law of reflection states that the angle of incidence
is equal to the angle of reflection.
When a wave is reflected from a surface, energy is
reflected. When is the reflection of energy the greatest?
When the wave is nearly parallel to the reflecting surface.
When is the reflection energy the least?
When the wave is perpendicular to the reflecting surface.
Light waves obey what law?
The law of reflection
A refracted wave occurs when a wave passes from one
medium into another medium. What determines the angle of
refraction?
Depends on the bending caused by the velocity difference
of the wave traveling through different mediums.
A light wave enters a sheet of glass at a perfect right
angle to the surface. Is the majority of the wave reflected,
refracted, transmitted, or absorbed?
Transmitted.
When light strikes a piece of white paper, the light
is reflected in all directions. What do we call this
scattering of light?
Diffusion.
Two methods describe how light propagates along an
optical fiber. These methods define two theories of light
propagation. What do we call these two theories?
The ray theory and the mode theory.
What is the basic optical-material property relevant
to optical fiber light transmission?
The index of refraction.
The index of refraction measures the speed of light in
an optical fiber. Will light travel faster in an optically
dense material or in one that is less dense?
Light will travel faster in an optical material that is less
dense.
Assume light is traveling through glass, what happens
when this light strikes the glass-air boundary?
Part of the light ray is reflected back into the glass and
part of the light ray is refracted (bent) as it enters the
air.
What condition causes a light ray to be totally
reflected back into its medium of propagation?
Total internal reflection occurs when the angle of
refraction approaches 90 degrees. This condition occurs
when the angle of incidence increases to the point where
no refraction is possible.
What name is given to the angle where total internal
reflection occurs?
Critical angle of incidence.
List the three parts of an optical fiber.
Core
cladding
coating or buffer.
Which fiber material, core or cladding, has a higher
index of refraction?
Core.
Light transmission along an optical fiber is described
by two theories. Which theory is used to approximate the
light acceptance and guiding properties of an optical
fiber?
The ray theory.
Meridional rays are classified as either bound or
unbound rays. Bound rays propagate through the fiber
according to what property?
Total internal reflection.
A light ray incident on the optical fiber core is
propagated along the fiber. Is the angle of incidence of
the light ray entering the fiber larger or smaller than the
acceptance angle (θa)
Smaller.
What fiber property does numerical aperture (NA)
measure?
NA measures the light-gathering ability of an optical
fiber.
Skew rays and meridional rays define different
acceptance angles. Which acceptance angle is larger, the
skew ray angle or the meridional ray angle?
Skew ray angle.
The mode theory uses electromagnetic wave behavior to
describe the propagation of the light along the fiber. What
is a set of guided electromagnetic waves called?
Modes of the fiber.
A light wave can be represented as a plane wave. What
three properties of light propagation
describe a plane wave?
Direction
amplitude
and wavelength of propagation.
A wavefront undergoes a phase change as it travels along
the fiber. If the wavefront transverses the fiber twice and
is reflected twice and the total phase change is equal to
1/2π, will the wavefront disappear? If yes, why?
Yes, the wavefront will disappear because the total amount
of phase collected must be an integer multiple of 2π. (If
the propagating wavefronts are out of phase, they will
disappear. The wavefronts that are in phase interfere with
the wavefronts out of phase. This type of interference
is called destructive interference.)
Modes that are bound at one wavelength may not exist
at longer wavelengths. What is the wavelength at which a
mode ceases to be bound called?
Cutoff wavelength.
What type of optical fiber operates below the cutoff
wavelength?
Multimode fiber.
Low-order and high-order modes propagate along an
optical fiber. How are modes determined to be low-order or
high-order modes?
The order of a mode is indicated by the number of field
maxima within the core of the fiber. The order of a mode
is also determined by the angle that the wavefront makes
with the axis of the fiber.
As the core and cladding modes travel along the fiber,
mode coupling occurs. What is mode coupling?
Mode coupling is the exchange of power between two modes.
The fiber’s normalized frequency (V) determines how
many modes a fiber can support. As the value of V increases,
will the number of modes supported by the fiber increase
or decrease?
Increase.
The value of the normalized frequency parameter (V)
relates the core size with mode propagation. When single
mode fibers propagate only the fundamental mode, what is
the value of V?
V ≤ 2.405.
The number of modes propagated in a multimode fiber
depends on core size and numerical aperture (NA). If the
core size and the NA decrease, will the number of modes
propagated increase or decrease?
Decrease.
Modal dispersion affects the bandwidth of multimode
systems. It is essential to adjust what three fiber
properties to maximize system bandwidth?
Core diameter
NA
index profile properties.
Attenuation is mainly a result of what three properties?
Light absorption
scattering
bending losses.
the loss of optical power as light travels
along the fiber.
attenuation
What are the main causes of absorption in optical
fiber?
Intrinsic and extrinsic material properties.
Silica (pure glass) fibers are used because of their
low intrinsic material absorption at the wavelengths of
operation. This wavelength of operation is between two
intrinsic absorption regions. What are these two regions
called? What are the wavelengths of operation for these two
regions?
Ultraviolet absorption region (below 400 nm) and infrared absorption region (above 2000 nm).
Extrinsic (OH_) absorption peaks define three regions
or windows of preferred operation. List the three windows
of operation.
The first, second, and third windows of operation are 850
nm, 1300 nm, and 1550 nm, respectively.
What is the main loss mechanism between the ultraviolet
and infrared absorption regions?
Rayleigh scattering.
Scattering losses are caused by the interaction of light
with density fluctuations within a fiber. What are the two
scattering mechanisms called when the size of the density
fluctuations is (a) greater than and (b) less than one-tenth
of the operating wavelength?
(a) Mie scattering; (b) Rayleigh scattering.
Microbend loss is caused by microscopic bends of the
fiber axis. List three sources of microbend loss.
Uneven coating applications, improper cabling procedures,
and external force.
How is fiber sensitivity to bending losses reduced?
Fiber sensitivity to bending losses can be reduced if the
refractive index of the core is increased and/or if the
overall diameter of the fiber increases.
Name the two types of intramodal, or chromatic,
dispersion.
Material dispersion and waveguide dispersion.
Which dispersion mechanism (material or waveguide) is
a function of the size of the fiber’s core relative to the
wavelength of operation?
Waveguide dispersion.
Modes of a light pulse that enter the fiber at one time
exit the fiber at different times. This condition causes
the light pulse to spread. What is this condition called?
Modal dispersion.
Refractive index profile describes the value of refractive
index as a function of radial distance at any fiber
diameter.
refractive index profile
The refractive index of a fiber core is uniform and
undergoes an abrupt change at the corecladding boundary.
Is this fiber a step-index or graded-index fiber?
Step-index.
Multimode optical fibers can have a step-index or
graded-index refractive index profile. Which fiber,
multimode step-index or multimode graded-index fiber,
usually performs better?
Multimode graded-index fiber.
List the standard core sizes for multimode step-index,
multimode graded-index, and single mode fibers.
Multimode step-index fibers: 50 μm and 100 μm. Multimode
graded-index fibers: 50 μm, 62.5
μm, 85 μm, and 100 μm. Single mode fibers: between 8 μm and
10 μm.
Multimode step-index fibers have a core and cladding of
constant refractive index n1 and n2, respectively. Which
refractive index, the core or cladding, is lower?
Cladding.
In multimode step-index fibers, the majority of light
propagates in the fiber core for what reason?
Most modes in multimode step-index fibers propagate far
from cutoff.
Multimode step-index fibers have relatively large core
diameters and large numerical apertures. These provide what
benefit?
Make it easier to couple light from a light-emitting diode
(LED) into the fiber.
The profile parameter (α) determines the shape of the
multimode graded-index core’s refractive index profile. As
the value of the α increases, how does the core’s profile
change?
From a triangular shape to step.
Light propagates in multimode graded-index fibers
according to refraction and total internal reflection. When
does total internal reflection occur?
When the angle of incidence becomes larger than the critical
angle of incidence.
What four fiber properties determine the number of modes
propagating in a multimode gradedindex fiber?
Numerical aperture (NA), relative refractive index difference (Δ), profile parameter (α), and normalized frequency (V).
Light travels faster in a material with a lower
refractive index. Therefore, light rays that travel a
longer distance in a lower refractive index travel at a
greater average velocity. What effect does this have on
multimode graded-index fiber modal dispersion and
bandwidth?
Decreases the time difference between light rays, which
reduces modal dispersion and increases fiber bandwidth.
What multimode graded-index fiber offers the best
overall performance for most applications?
62.5/125 μm multimode graded-index fiber.
What are the most distinguishing characteristics of a
multimode graded-index fiber?
A13. Source-to-fiber coupling efficiency and insensitivity
to microbending and macrobending losses.
How are source-to-fiber coupling and microbending and
macrobending losses affected by changes in core diameter
and Δ?
Coupling efficiency increases with both core diameter and
Δ, while bending losses increase directly with core
diameter and inversely with Δ.
While coupled power and bending loss favor a high Δ,
which Δ value, smaller or larger, improves fiber bandwidth?
Smaller.
What are the two basic types of single mode step-index
fibers?
Matched-clad and depressed-clad.
Which fiber cladding, matched or depressed, consists
of two regions?
Depressed.
In single mode operation, the value of the normalized
frequency (V) should remain near the 2.405 level. If the
value of V is less than 1, do single mode fibers carry a
majority of the power in the core or cladding material?
Cladding material.
What happens to the fundamental mode as the operating
wavelength becomes longer than the single mode cutoff
wavelength?
The fundamental mode becomes increasingly lossy.
Give two reasons why the value of the normalized
frequency (V) is varied in single mode stepindex fibers?
To increase performance and reduce losses caused by bending
and splicing.
Give two reasons why optical fiber manufacturers depart
from the traditional circular core and cladding, low-loss
glass fiber design?
To increase performance and reduce cost.
What five characteristics do applications using plastic clad silica (PCS) and all-plastic fibers typically have?
High NA, low bandwidth, tight bend radius, short length,
and low cost.
List the types of materials used in fabricating
low-loss, long wavelength optical fibers.
Heavy-metal fluorides, chalcogenide glasses, and
crystalline materials.
What are the two methods used by fiber manufacturers
to fabricate multimode and single mode glass fibers?
Vapor phase oxidation and direct-melt process.
Which method, vapor phase oxidation or direct-melt
process, transforms deposited material into a solid glass
preform by heating the porous material without melting?
Vapor phase oxidation.
List three benefits that properly cabled optical fibers
provide.
a. Protect optical fibers from damage or breakage during
installation and over the fiber’s lifetime.
b. Provide stable fiber transmission characteristics
compared with uncabled fibers.
c. Maintain the physical integrity of the optical fiber.
In addition to a primary coating, manufacturers add a
layer of buffer material for what reasons?
To provide additional mechanical protection and preserve
the fiber’s inherent strength.
List the three techniques used by manufacturers to
buffer optical fibers.
Tight-buffered, loose-tube, and gel-filled loose-tube.
List seven properties cable jackets should have.
Low smoke generation, low toxicity, low halogen content,
flame retardance, fluid resistance, high
abrasion resistance, and stable performance over
temperature.
List the three types of cable designs being considered
by the Navy.
Optical fiber cable component (OFCC), stranded, and ribbon
cables designs.
Describe an optical fiber cable component (OFCC).
OFCCs are tight-buffer fiber surrounded by arimid yarn and
a low-halogen outer jacket.
Two layers of arimid yarn strength members encase the
OFCC units. Why are these strength members stranded in
opposing directions?
To minimize microbending of the fibers.
Why do cable manufacturers introduce a controlled twist
to the stacked ribbons during the cabling process?
To minimize fiber stress when the cable is bent.
OFCC, stranded, and ribbon cables have different fiber
capacities. What is the approximate number of fibers that
each cable can accommodate in a 0.5-inch cable?
OFCC (12 fibers), stranded (48 fibers), ribbon (204
fibers).