UNIT-III

FIBER OPTICS

3.1

Introduction

Fiber optics is a technology in which electrical signals are

converted into optical signals and transmitted through a thin glass fiber
and reconverted into electrical signals.

3.2

Structure of optical fiber

A practical optical fiber has three coaxial regions. The innermost

light guiding region is known as the Core. It is surrounded by a coaxial
middle region known as the cladding. This layer serves to confine the
light to the core. The refractive index of cladding is always lower than
that of the core. The outermost region is called as sheath or buffer. This
protects the cladding and core from abrasions, contamination and
moisture. The sheath also increases the mechanical strength of the fiber.

3.3

Principle or light propagation in Fiber

Light propagates from one end to other end in a fiber due to total

internal reflection at the core and cladding interface.

For the phenomenon of total internal reflection to take place in a

fiber the following conditions are to be satisfied.

1.

The refractive index of the core (n1) must be greater than the
refractive index of the cladding (n2).

2.

At the core-cladding interface the angle of incidence i between

the ray and the normal to the interface must be grater than
the critical angle.

Note :

Critical angle of a medium is the value of the angle of

incidence at which the angle of refraction is 90.

3.4

Propagation of light in optical fiber

Consider an optical fiber into which light enters form one end as
shown in Fig. 3.3. Let n1 be the refractive index of the core and n2 be the
refractive index of the cladding. i.e., n1>n2. Let n0 be the refractive index
of the medium from which light is launched into the fiber. Let the ray
enter the fiber at an angle i to the axis of fiber. This ray refracts at an
angle r and strikes the core-cladding interface at an angle .

For total internal reflection to occur > c and n1 > n2

Applying Snells law at the entrance of the fiber we get

sin i / sin r =

n1 / n 0

The largest value of i occurs when = c

But we know for total internal reflection to occur

Substituting (4) in (3) we get
If the fiber is kept in air than n0 = 1
The angle imax is called as the acceptance angle of the fiber.
Acceptance angle is the maximum angle with which a light ray
can enter into the fiber and still total internally reflect.

The main function of an optical fiber is to accept and transmit

light. The light gathering ability of the fiber is called as numerical
aperture. It is a measure of the amount of light that can be accepted by
a fiber.
The numerical aperture is also defined as the sine of the
acceptance angle.

Substituting (10) in (8)

3.5

Types of optical fibers

Optical fibers are classified into various categories depending upon

1.

the material used

2.

the mode of propagation and

3.

the refractive index profile

3.5.1 Classification base on material

Based on the materials used for the optical fiber, they are classified
into

Glass fiber and

Plastic fiber

Glass fiber

When the optical fiber is made by fusing mixtures of metal oxides and
silica glasses, then they are known as glass fibers.
The difference of refractive index between core and cladding is
achieved in glass fibers by doping them with suitable materials.

Plastic fiber

There fibers are made of plastics and are of low cost. They exhibit
greater signal attenuation. Plastic fibers can be handled easily due to its
toughness and durability.
Examples

Polystyrene core and methylmethacrylate cladding.

Polymethylmethacrylate core and a cladding made of its copolymer.

3.5.2 Classification base on mode of propagation

Base on the mode of propagation optical fiber are classified as

Single mode fiber and

Multimode fiber

Single mode fiber

If only one mode is transmitted through the fiber, then it is said to be

single mode fiber. These fibers have smaller core diameter (around 10 m)
and the difference between the refractive index of core and cladding is very
small.

Multimode fiber

If more than one mode is transmitted through the fiber, then it is

said to be multimode fiber. These fibers have longer core diameter and the
difference between the refractive index of core and cladding is large.

3.5.3 Classification based or refractive index profile

Based on the refractive index profile optical fiber are classified as

Step index fiber and
Graded index fiber

Step index fiber

The refractive indices of the core and cladding very like a step and so
it called as step index fiber. Both single mode and multimode signals can be
propagated through this fiber. For easy handling and to reduce the
susceptibility to microbending, the thickness of the cladding is made 10
times as that of the core radius.

Graded index fiber

In this type of fiber, the refractive index of the core varies radially
from the fiber axis. The refractive index is maximum at the centre and
gradually decreases so that it is minimum at the core-cladding interface.
The variation of the refractive index of the core (n) with radius (x),
measured from the centre of the core is given by

When n1 refractive index at the centre of the core

a radius of the core

= n1-n2 / n1
p grading profile index number.

3.5.4 Differences between single mode and multimode fiber

Single mode fiber

1.

Multimode fiber

If only one mode can propagate If large number of paths or modes

through the fiber, then it is said can propagate through the fiber,
to be single mode fiber.

then it is said to be multimode

fiber.

2.

The single mode fiber has smaller Generally in multimode fiber the
core diameter (10m) and the code diameter and the relative
difference between the refractive refractive index difference are
indices

of

the

core

and

the large than the single mode fiber.

cladding is very small.

3.

In practice there is no dispersion Even though there is self focusing

(i.e

no

during

degradation
traveling

of

signal effect there is signal degradation

through

fiber).
4.

the due to multimode dispersion and

material dispersion.

Launching of light into single Launching of light into fiber and

mode fibers and joining of two joining of two fibers are easy in
fibers are very difficult.

5.

these fibers.

Fabrication is very difficult and Fabrication is easy and so fiber is

hence the fibers is so costly.

6.

cheap.

Laser diode is used for launching Semiconductor laser is used.

light into the fiber.

3.5.5 Difference between step index fiber and graded index fiber.

Step index fiber

1.

The

refractive

Graded index fiber

indices

of

air, In this fiber, the refractive index

cladding, and core very step by is high at the centre of the core
step.

and it gradually decreases form

centre towards the core-cladding

interface
2.

The diameter of the core is about The diameter of the core is about
50-200m

in

the

case

of 50 m in the case of multimode

multimode fiber and 10 m in the fiber.

case of single mode fiber.
3.

The

light

rays

propagating The

light

rays

propagating

through it are in the form of through it are in the form of skew

meridional

rays

which

will rays (or) helical rays which will

cross the fiber axis during every not cross the fiber axis at any
reflection at the core-cladding time and are propagating around
boundary and are propagating in the fiber axis in a helical (or)
a zig-zag manner
4.

spiral manner.

Bandwidth of fiber is about 50 Bandwidth of fiber is form 200

MHz km for multimode step index MHz km to 600 MHz km even
fibers. For single mode index though theoretically it has infinite
fibers. For single mode index bandwidth.
fibers, the bandwidth is more
than 1000 MHz.

5.

Attenuation

is

more

for Attenuation is less.

multimode step index fibers. For

single mode step index fiber it is
very less.
6.

Numerical Aperture is more for Numerical aperture is less.

multimode step index fibers. For
single mode step index fiber it is
very less.

3.6

Fabrication of optical fiber

Optical fibers are normally prepared from glass and plastic

materials. In the case of glass fibers silica is the major raw material. Among
the common plastic fibers polysterene is used as core material.

The various optical fiber fabrication techniques are

1.

Modified chemical vapour deposition

2.

Preform technique of fiber drawing and

3.

Double crucible technique of fiber drawing.

3.6.1 Double crucible technique

This method is also know as direct-melt technique. The traditional

glass making procedure is adopted here. The schematic diagram of double
crucible technique is shown in Fig 3.8.

In double crucible method the fiber is drawn from the molten state of
the purified component material. The glass rods for the core and cladding
materials are made separately by melting mixtures of purified powders to
make the appropriate glass composition.

These core and cladding rods which are in rod form are fed into the
two

concentric

platinum

crucibles.

The

platinum

crucible

avoid

contamination. The core is in the inner crucible while the cladding in the
outer crucible. The crucibles are kept in a muffle furnace capable of melting
the glass rods to a temperature between 800 and 1200C.

The fibers are drawn from the molten state through the orifices in
the bottom of the two concentric crucibles in a continuation production
process. This method is more suitable for step - index of all plastic fiber. The
index grading is achieved through the diffusion of mobile ions across the
core-cladding interface within the molten glass.

Advantages

1.

This techniques enables continuous drawing of the fiber and so

the cost is also reduced.

2.

Graded and step index fibers with attenuation as low as 3.4 dB

km-1 can be produced by this technique.

Limitation
Fibers with same characteristics are not produced always.
3.7.

Joining of Fibers
Increasing the length of the fiber or joining a broken fiber is an

essential requirement. The fiber optic system uses many means of inter
connecting or joining lengths of fibers with low insertion loss, high strength
and simplicity. The various ways of connecting fibers are

Splice

Connector

Coupler

3.7.1 Splicing

Splicing is nothing but a permanent joint made between two

optical fibers. The two types of splicing techniques available are

1.

Fusion splicing and

2.

Mechanical splicing

Before splicing, the surface has to be prepared. A clean cross

section perpendicular to the fiber axis can be obtained by scribing the
surface with a diamond scribe and cleaning it at the scribe. The surface
should be polished then with fine powder.

Fusion splicing

The two fiber ends are viewed through a microscope and butted
together using micropositioners. When the two ends of the fiber are
alligned an electric arc is struck across the joint. This causes the two
fiber ends to melt. As they come to contact, surface tension forces help
the two fibers to self-align.
An average loss per splice of 0.1 dB or less can be obtained for
well-matched fibers. Fusion eliminates reflection at the interface and if
done properly will result in a strong permanent connection.
Mechanical splicing provides greater flexibility and is used for
short and medium haul routes. The various types of aligning
configuration are

(i)

V-grove

(ii)

Precision sleeve

(iii)

Loose tube and

(iv)

Rod sleeve

V- Grove
Figure 3.10 shows the V-grove. The fibers to be joined are placed in
the groove. In this method the alignment of the fiber can be well controlled.
The two fibers are made to slide in the groove and epoxied when they touch.
In this method the errors are very minimal.
Precision sleeve

In this method the fibers are inserted through the central hole of the
sleeve. The epoxy applied at the fiber ends enhance the joining.

Loose tube splice

Fibers whose ends are epoxied are inserted into loose-tube splice.
When the fiber is bend it causes the tube to rotate and the fibers align at
one of the corner. The epoxy in the ends enhance the joint.
Rod splice
Fibers are aligned inside the metal rods as in figure. Epoxy is applied
to the fiber ends. The heat shrinkable sleeve is placed over the assembly.
The heat applied secures the rods and squeezes them against the fiber.
3.8

Loss in optical fibers

When a light signal is transmitted through an optical fiber, it

undergoes loss of signal. The two factors which affect the transmission of

light waves in optical fibers are

1.

Attenuation and

2.

Dispersion

3.8.1 Attenuation

If an input power Pin results in an output power P out then the loss in
decibel. The ratio of power depends on particular wavelength of optical
source. The basic attenuation mechanism in a fiber are absorption,
scattering and radiative losses of the optical energy.

Where dB - is the signal attenuation per unit length in decibel

L - is the length of an optical fiber

Material Absorption Losses

Material absorption is a loss mechanism related to the molecules

of the basic fiber material. It greatly depends on wavelength of light
used. The absorption of light may be of three categories namely,

a.

a.

Intrinsic absorption

b.

Atomic defect

c.

Extrinsic absorption

Intrinsic absorption
An absolute pure optical fiber has little intrinsic absorption due

to its basic material structure. This absorption cannot be avoided.

b.

Absorption by atomic defect

This absorption is caused due to inhomogenity of materials like

missing molecule, high density clusters of atom group or oxygen,

defects. This absorption is neligible.

C.

Extrinsic absorption losses

The presence of impurities like iron, copper, chromium etc is the

major problem in signal attenuation. These contaminate the fiber. Also

the propagation of light in the fiber are greatly affected due to
interaction of impurity electron and photon (1ight ).

Extrinsic loss mechanism is also caused by the presence of

hydroxyl or OH- ions in the fiber. At 950, 1250,1380 nm the absorption
increases

drastically.

Hydroxyl

ions

absorb

the

light

in

these

wavelengths.

Scattering Losses
Scattering losses occur when a wave interacts with a particle on
its way and removes energy in the direction of propagation and
transverse it in the other direction. The scattering losses are classified
into two types namely,
a.

Linear scattering losses and

b.

Non-linear scattering losses.

a. Linear scattering losses

In this scattering the amount of light power that is transferred
from a wave is proportional to the power of the wavelength. The two
types of linear scattering losses are

i.

i.

Rayleigh scattering and

ii.

Mie scattering

Rayleigh Scattering

The inhomogenity of the material like refractive index fluctuation

and compositional variation will cause an attenuation called Rayliegh
scattering. According to Rayliegh scattering, the loss is inversely
proportional to the fourth power of the wavelength and is given by
Attenuation 1 / 4
This scattering loss can be reduced by operating at the longest
possible wavelength.
ii.

Mie scattering
The imperfections of fiber such as irregularities in the core-

cladding interface, core-cladding refractive index difference, strains and

bubbles will cause Mie scattering. This scattering can cause significant
loss.
b.

Non-linear scattering

High values of electric field within the fiber creates non-linear

scattering. The scattering is accompanied by a frequency shift of the
scattered lights. The two types of non-linear scattering are

Brillouin scattering

Raman scattering

Brillouin scattering
The Brillouin scattering may be regarded as the modulation of
light through thermal molecular vibrations within fiber. In this
scattering process, the incident photon produces a photon of frequency 'f'
called acoustic frequency. This produces an optical frequency shift
causing loss in transmission.

c.

Stimulated Raman Scattering

Unlike

Brillouin

scattering,

stimulated

Raman

scattering

produces high frequency optical phonon rather than an acoustic phonon.

The magnitude of loss is greater than Stimulated Brilliouin scattering.

Non-linear scattering losses can be reduced to minimum by using

an optical signal level less than threshold optical power.

Bending losses or Radiation losses

Macro and micro bendings

Optical fibers suffer radiation losses when there are small bend in
the fiber or variations in the surface of the core of the fiber by
environment. These variations are known as micro bends. A small
change (bend) in the shape of the fiber core causes micro bend losses.
The light ray incident on the core cladding interface will change its
angle due to micro bends and refracts through the cladding surface
rather than to reflect into the core.
Micro bend losses can also be caused when the fiber is subjected
to strain. Micro bends in the core-cladding interface is shown in Fig.
3.12.
Macro bend losses occur when the fiber bend is larger than its
diameter. Bending losses can be minimized by keeping the fiber straight
at length.
3.8.2 Dispersion Losses

When an optical signal is sent into the fiber the pulase spreads /
broaden as it propagates through the fiber. This is know as dispersion.
The dispersion losses are of three types namely,
i.

Modal dispersion

ii.

Material dispersion and

iii.

Wave guide dispersion

Modal Dispersion

Modal dispersion occurs in fibers that have more than one mode
of propagation. r When many modes of light ray travels through the
fiber, they differ in the path line (i.e) some rays will reach the core end
before the another. The information transmitted is stretched out. If the
pulse stretch is much, they begin to overlap each other and may reach a
point with delay between them.

Material Dispersion
Material dispersion occurs due to the variation of refractive index
of the material and wave length of light used.

The change in size of the signal is because, light of different wave

length travels with different speeds. This is due to the fact that the
speed of light depends on the refractive index of the material through
which it is transmitted.

Wave Guide Dispersion

Wave guide dispersion occurs only in the fibers with single mode.
This is caused due to the shape of the fiber core and its chemical
composition. As frequency is a function of wavelength the group
velocity of light in a fiber varies with frequency. Since the cladding has
lower refractive index than the core, the light will reach the end of the
fiber fast than the light travels in the core.

Among the three dispersions

Intermodal dispersion > Material dispersion> Wave guide
dispersion
3.9

Fiber Optic Communication System

The fiber optic communication system can be classified into three

major units.
1.

A transmitter which converts electrical signal into light

signal.

2.

An optical fiber which transmits the light signal by total

internal reflection.

3.

A receiver that captures the signal from the fiber and

converts them into electrical signal.

The transmitter consists of a light source and necessary drive

circuits. The transducer converts the non-electrical message into an
electric signal and this is given to the light source. The light source can
be either a LED or a semiconductor laser. The light waves get
modulated with the signal and by flashing the LED, digital modulated
signal are obtained. This signal is transmitted through the optic fiber.

At the receiver end, the light from the fiber is coupled to a

semiconductor photodiode. This converts light signal into electrical
signal. The electrical signals are amplified and decoded to obtain the
message. This output is fed to the transducer to get the original audio

or video signal.
Advantages
1.

This has enormous bandwidth. So large number of signals

can be passed.

2.

Light weight when compared to conventional cables.

3.

Optical fibers are cheap.

4.

They are not hazardous as there is no passage of electric

current.

5.

The transmission through optic fiber is more secure and

private.

6.

External electrical signals or sources cannot interface with

the information passed through the optical fibers.

7.

The transmission loss per unit length of an optical fiber is low

i.e., 4dB/km.

3.10 Light Sources for Fiber Optics

Light sources for fiber optics act as signal emitters and must
meet certain requirement.
1.

The light emitted must be monochromatic.

2.

The

light

emitted

must

be

intense

enough

so

that

transmission over relatively longer distances is possible

inspite of the intrinsic losses.
3.

The light sources must be capable of being easily modulated.

4.

The light sources must be small and compact so that the

output can be easily and effective coupled to the fibers.

5.

The light sources must be durable and inexpensive.

Light emitting diodes and semiconductor laser diodes satisfy

almost all the above requirements. Hence they are extensively used as
light sources for fiber optic communication.

3.10.1 LED

The two main types of LED most often used in fiber optical
systems are the surface etched well emitter (S-LED) and the edge
emitter (E-LED). They are designed for more efficient coupling into
optical fibers. In the S-LED, a well is etched into the top of a planar
LED structure. This enables the fiber end to be kept as close as
possible to the light emitting region. In S-LED the current is confined
to a smaller circular region of the surface. This area is typically 20 to
50 m in diameter. The fiber is held in position by the use of a
transparent epoxy resin as shown in Fig 3.16.

In E-LED, the radiation is confined to a narrow light structure very

similar to that of double hetro structure laser as shown in Fig.3.17. Total
optical powers from edge emitters are typically several times smaller than
from surface emitters. Narrow beam divergence gives rise to more coupled
power.

In general, E-LEDs are prepared to use with small NA fibers

whereas S-LEDs, have an almost linear relation ship between drive

current and light output. This makes the LED more suitable for
amplitude modulation.

3.10.2 Laser source

Lasers are highly monochromatic and intense than LED.

Semiconductor lasers exhibit much higher powers, narrow beam
divergence and a small emitting area. Hence laser couple significantly
give more power into fibers than LED. They are useful for small
diameter low numerical aperture fibers, in particular single mode
fibers. Most commonly used laser is Ga-As laser.

The homojunction Ga-As semiconductor is dealt already in

previous chapter.

3.11 Photodetectors
At the output end of an optical transmission line there must be a
receiving device which interprets the information contained in the
optical signal. The first element of this receiver is a photodetector which
senses the luminescent power falling upon it and converts the variation
of this optical power into a correspondingly varying electric current.
Since the optical signal is generally weakend and distorted when it
emerges from the end of the fiber, the photodetector must meet very

high performance requirement.

The photodetector should also be insensitive to variations in
temperature, be compatible with the physical dimensions of the optical
fiber, have a reasonable cost in relation to the other components of the
system, and have a long operating life.

Several types of photodetectors are in existence. Among these are

photomultipliers,

pyroelectric

detectors,

and

semiconductor-based

photoconductors, phototransistors and photodiodes.

Of the semiconductor-based photodetectors, the photo diode is
used almost exclusively for fiber optic systems because of its small size,
high sensitivity, and fast response time. The two types of photodiodes
used are the pin photo detector and the avalanche photodiode (APD).
3.11.1

The Pin Photo detector

The most commonly used semiconductor photo detector is the pin

photo diode shown schematically in Fig. 3.18. The device structure

consists of p and n regions separated by a very lightly n-dope1intrinsic
(i) region. In normal operation a sufficiently large reverse bias voltage
is applied across the device so that, the intrinsic region is fully depleted
of carriers. That is, the intrinsic n and p carrier concentrations are
negligibly small in comparison with the impurity concentration in this
region.

When an incident photon has an energy greater than or equal to the

band gap energy of the semi conductor material, the photon can give up its
energy and excite an electron from the valence band to the conduction band.
This process generates free electron-hole pairs which are known
photocarriers. The photo detector is normally designed, so that, these
carriers are generated mainly in the depletion region (the depleted intrinsic
region) where most of the incident light is absorbed.

The high electric field present in the depletion region causes the
carriers to separate and to be collected across the reverse-biased junction.
This gives rise to a current flow in an external circuit, with one electron
flowing for every carrier pair generated. This current flow is known as
photocurrent.As the charge carriers flow through the material, some
electron-hole pair will recombine and hence disappear. On an average, the
charge carriers move a distance Ln or Lp for electrons and holes,
respectively. This distance is known as the diffusion length.

3.11.2 Avalanche Photodiodes

Avalanche photodiodes (APDs) internally multiply the primary

signal photocurrent before it enters the input circuitary of the following
amplifier. This increases the receiver sensitivity since the photocurrent
is a amplified before encountering the thermal noise associated with the
receiver circuit.

For carrier multiplication to take place, the photogenerated

carriers must traverse a region where a very high electric field is
present. In this high-field region a photogenerator electron or hole can
gain enough energy so that it ionizes bound electrons in the valence
band upon colliding with them. This carrier multiplication mechanism
is known as impact ionization.

The newly created carriers are also accelerated by the high

electric field, thus gaining enough energy to cause further impact
ionization. This phenomenon is the avalanche effect. Below the diode
breakdown voltage a finite total number of carriers are created.
Whereas, above breakdown the number can be infinte.

A commonly used structure for achieving carrier multiplication

with very little excess noise is the reach-through avalanche photo diode
(RAPD) shown in Fig.3.20. RAPD is composed of a high-resistivity ptype material deposited as an epitaxial layer on a p+ (heavily doped p-

type) substrate. A p-type diffusion or ion implant is then made in the

high-resistivity material followed by the construction of an n+ (heavily
doped n-type) layer. For silicon the dopants normally used to form these
layers are boron and phosphorus, respectively. This configuration is
referred to as a n+ p p+ structure. The layer is basically an intrinsic
material that has some p doping because of imperfect purification.
The

term

"reach-through"

arises

from the

photo

diode

operation.

When a low reverse- bias voltage is applied, most of the

potential drop is across the pn+ junction.

The depletion layer widens with increasing bias until a certain

voltage is reached at which the peak electric field at the pn+ junction is
about 5 to 10 percent below the needed to cause avalanche breakdown.
At this point the depletion layer just "reaches through" to the nearly
intrinsic region.

In normal usage the RAPD is operated in fully depleted mode.

Light enters the device through the p+ region and it is absorbed. The
photon gives up its energy, thereby creating electron-hole pairs, which
are then separated by the electric field in the region. The
photogenerated electrons drift through the 1f region to the pn + junction
where a high electric field exists. It is in this high-field region that
carrier multiplication takes place.

3.12 Fiber Optic Sensors

Fiber optic sensor is transducer optical which can convert various

input (physical quantity) into an electrical signal in a measurable form.

The application of fiber optic sensors are in increase due to less

cost and improved quality than the traditional sensors. The fiber optic
sensors are used for measuring and sensing various parameters like
temperature, electric field, magnetic field, current, humidity, and
acoustic vibrations.
The optical sensors are non contact and generally high accuracy
devices and systems.

In

fiber

sensors,

the

optical

wave

is

the

information carrier and sensor.

Whenever, optic sensors are used for measuring a physical
parameter, anyone of the characteristics like amplitude, intensity,
phase, polarization, frequency and direction of propagation of the wave
gets modulated by the measured quantity.
3.12.1 Advantages of fiber optic sensors

1.

They are light in weight and small in size.

2.

They have good geometrical flexibility.

3.

Fiber optic sensors are free from the risk of sparks since
they are made of silica.

4.

They are electrically passive, i.e., they are immune to

electromagnetic interference and also do not distort the
surrounding electrical and magnetic fields.

5.

the chemical and environmental ruggedness is more.

6.

These sensors have large bandwidth and are high sensitive.

3.12.2 Types of Optic Sensors

Fiber optic sensors are of two types
1.

Extrinsic or hybrid fiber optic sensors (also called passive

sensors).

2.

Intrinsic or all fiber sensors (also called active sensors).

Extrinsic Sensors
In extrinsic sensors, the interaction between the light and the
measuring parameter (the quantity under measurement) takes place
outside the fiber.
In this type of sensors, the fiber acts merely as a wave guide. This
type of sensors has a sensor head and the sensed optical signal will be
transferred to the measurement point with low attenuation and
incresed mechanical stability for signal processing.

These sensors can be used for the measurement of voltages,

current, temperature, pressure, force, displacement etc.

Intrinsic Sensors

In intrinsic sensors, the interaction between light and the

measuring parameter takes place directly on the fiber itself and
produces a change in the transmission characteristics.
Liquid level sensor and Faraday sensors or gyroscope are of this
type.

3.12.3 Displacement Sensor

The displacement sensor is used to measure the displacement of

moving targets or objects. This employs a pair of optic fiber in which one
carry light from a remote source to the object and the other receive the
light reflected from the object and carry it to a photodetector.

Finely focused laser beam coming from an optical fiber is allowed to

fall on the object and the intensity of the light reflected from the moving
target is measured using a detector. By proper calibration, we can obtain
the displacement of the object in terms of the strength of the output signal
of the photo detector.

3.12.4 Pressure Sensor

The pressure sensor works by using the concept of microbending. Fig.
3.22 shows the pressure sensor. When the fiber is pressed by a spacer, bents
are produced and some amount of light is lost through the wall of the fiber.
As the pressure applied changes, the intensity of light collected by the
detector also changes.

A callibration graph can be drawn initially by apllying different loads

on the spacer. Using the graph the pressure corresponding to various
objects can be found out.

3.13

Endoscope
In medicine, optical fibers are used to study ~he interior of the

lungs, liver and other parts of the human body by using endoscope. The
fiber endoscope uses a bundle of flexible fibers

Types of endoscope:

Important types of endoscope used in

medicine to study various parts of the human body are as follows.

1.

Bronchoscope : This is used to check the presence of foreign

bodies

2.

and infections in trachea and larger airways.

Cystoscope : This is used to check the presence of tumours,

inflation and to stones in urinary bladder.

3.

Laparoscope : It is used to detect the presence of tumours

and to perform family planning operation in abdominal cavity.

4.

Gastroscope : It is used to detect the presence of tumours

and gastric ulcer in stomach.

5.

Opthalmoscope : It is used to study the state of blood vassels

in high blood pressure and retinal detachement in eyes.

Construction and working

Fig 3.24 shows the structure of an endoscope. Usually in an
endoscope there are two fibers namely inner fiber and outer fiber. The
outer fiber is used to illuminate the inner structure of the body under
study. The inner fiber is used to collect the reflected light from that area
under study.

An optical light source attached at the entrance of the fiber

illuminates the part of the body under study. The light collections
equipment and image viewing arrangement are placed at the ends of
the inner fiber. With this arrangement the internal structure of the
body can be examined.
Endoscope are also used for treatment of diseases and surgery.
For example Laparoscope is used for family planning operations and
removal of tumors in the abdominal cavity.

3.14

Comparison between laser diodes and Light emmiting diodes

S.No
1.

Laser diodes

LED

Laser diodes are more suitable

LEDs are not suitable as light

as light sources in optical fiber

sources in the long distance

communication due to their

optical fiber communication due

longer lifetime and high

to their higher threshold current

modulation rates (0r) high

level and non linearity with

bandwidth length product.

respect to drive current and

power output.

2.

They have narrow spectral

They have low optical power

width, high optical power

output and incoherent radiation.

output, efficient waveguide

structure and high directional
coherent radiation.
3.

The carrier life time and the

The carrier life time and output

output pulse rise time are

pulse rise time are more and so

small due to stimulated light

the radiative recombination rate

emission and so the radiative

is decreased. Thus lead to

recombination rate is

decrease of bandwidth or bit rate

increased. This lead to increase

and output power.

of bandwidth or bit rate and

output power
4.

The design of laser diode with

The design of LED is simple and

low threshold current and high

hence the cost of diode is cheap.

coherence is so complicated and

hence the cost of the laser diode

is more
5.

This is mostly suitable as light

This is more suitable for display

source in the long distance

of alphabets and numbers in the

optical fiber communication

dot matrix or 7 segment systems

system due to its high optical

and not used in the long distance

power output.

optical fiber communication

system due to its low optical
power output.