Unit5

PowerLaunchingand
Coupling

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PowerLaunchingConsiderations
y NumericalAperture
y CoreSize
y RefractiveIndexProfile
y CoreCladdingindexdifferenceofthefiber
y Radiance
y AngularPowerDistributionoftheopticalsource

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Coupling Efficiency
PF
power coupled into the fiber
=
=
power emitted from the sourse Ps

Ps

PF

Source

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Optical Fiber

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LambertianSource
Lambert's cosine law in optics says that
the radiant intensity observed from a
"Lambertian" surface is directly
proportional to the cosine of the angle
between the observer's line of sight and the
surface normal.
The law is also known as the cosine
emission law or Lambert's emission law.
It is named after Johann Heinrich Lambert,
from his Photometria, published in 1760

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SourcetoFiberPowerLaunching
y Radiance (orbrightness)B atagivendiodedrivecurrent istheoptical

powerradiatedintoaunitsolidangleperunitemittingsurface area
andisgenerallyspecifiedintermsofW/cm2.sr.
y ConsiderFig.whichshowsasphericalcoordinatesystemcharacterized

byR,,and,withthenormaltotheemittingsurfacebeingthepolar
axis.

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SourcetoFiberPowerLaunching
y Theradiancemaybeafunctionofboth and,andcanalsovaryfrom

pointtopointontheemittingsurface.
y SurfaceemittingLEDsarecharacterizedbytheirLambertianoutput
pattern.Thepowerdeliveredatanangle,measuredrelativetoa
normaltotheemittingsurface,variesascos becausetheprojected
areaoftheemittingsurfacevariesascos withviewingdirection.

y TheemissionpatternforaLambertiansourcefollowstherelationship

B(,)=Bocos
whereBo istheradiancealongthenormaltotheradiatingsurface.The
radiancepatternforthissourceisshowninFig.

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SourcetoFiberPowerLaunching
y EdgeemittingLEDsandlaserdiodeshavedifferentradiancesB(,0o)

andB(,90o)intheplanesparallelandnormal,respectively,tothe
emittingjunctionplaneofthedevice.
y Theradiancescanbeapproximatedby

1
sin 2
cos 2
=
+
T
B( , ) B0 cos B0 cos L
y TheintegersT andL arethetransverseandlateralpowerdistribution

coefficients,respectively.
y Foredgeemitters,L=1(aLambertiandistributionwitha120o half

powerbeamwidth)andT issignificantlylarger.
y Forlaserdiodes,L cantakeonvaluesover100.
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SourcetoFiberPowerLaunching
y Example:

Alambertianpatternwithalaserdiodehasalateral( =0o)half
powerbeamwidthof2 =10o.
y wehave
B(=5o, =0o)=Bo(cos5o)L=(1/2)Bo
SolvingforL,wehave
L =[log0.5/log(cos5o)]
=[log0.5/log0.9962]=182
y Thenarroweroutputbeamfromalaserdiodeallowsmorelight

tobecoupledintoanopticalfiber

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PowerCouplingCalculation
y ConsiderthecaseshowninFig.forasymmetricsourceofbrightness

B(As,s),whereAs ands aretheareaandsolidemissionangleofthe

source,respectively.

y Thecoupledpowercanbefoundusingtherelationship

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PowerCouplingCalculation
y Thetotalcoupledpowerisdeterminedbysummingupthecontributions

fromeachindividualemittingpointsourceofincrementalarea dsrdr;
thatis,integratingovertheemittingarea.
y Ifthesourceradiusrs islessthanthefibercoreradiusa,thentheupper

integrationlimitrm = rs; forsourceareaslargerthanthefibercorearea,

rm =a

y AssumeasurfaceemittingLEDofrs <a.ThisisaLambertianemitter,

y ForstepindexfiberstheNAisindependentofs andr,sothat(forrs <a)

PLED,step =(rs)2B0(NA)2
=2(rs)2B0n12
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PowerCouplingCalculation
y AssumeTotalopticalpowerPs emittedfromthesourceareaAs intoa

hemisphere(2 sr)isgivenby

y HencePLED,step =Ps(NA)2 forrs < a

y Whentheradiusoftheemittingareaislargerthantheradiusa ofthe

fibercorearea,Therefore

PLED,step =(a/rs)2Ps(NA)2 forrs >a

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PowerCouplingCalculation
y Example:

ConsideranLEDthathasacircularemittingareaofradius35mmanda
Lambertianemissionpatternwith150W/(cm2.sr)axialradiance.
y Letuscomparetheopticalpowerscoupledintotwostepindexfibers,one
ofwhichhasacoreradiusof25mmwithNA =0.20andtheotherhasa
coreradiusof50mmwithNA =0.20.
y Forthelargercorefiber,weget

PLED,step =Ps(NA)2 =2rs2B0(NA)2

=2(0.0035cm)2[150W/(cm2.sr)](0.20)2
=0.725mW
y Whenthefiberendfaceareaissmallerthantheemittingsurfacearea,the
coupledpowerislessthantheabovecasebytheratiooftheradiisquared:
PLED,step =(a/rs)2Ps(NA)2
=(25m/35m)2(0.725mW)
=0.37mW
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PowerCouplingCalculation
y ThepowercoupledfromasurfaceemittingLEDintoagradedindexfiber

becomes(forrs <a)

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PowerCouplingCalculation
y Iftherefractiveindexn ofthemediumisdifferentfromn1,thenthe

powercoupledintothefiberreducesbythefactor

R =(n1n)2/(n1+n)2
y whereR istheFresnelreflectionorthereflectivityatthefibercoreend

face.
y Thereflectioncoefficient r=(n1n)/(n1+n) relatestheamplitudesofthe

reflectedandtheincidentwave.

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PowerCouplingCalculation
y Example :

AGaAsopticalsourcewitharefractiveindexof3.6iscoupledtoasilica
fiberthathasarefractiveindexof1.48.

y Ifthefiberendandthesourceareinclosephysicalcontact,thenthe

Fresnelreflectionattheinterfaceis
R =[(n1n)/(n1+n)]2
=[(3.601.48)/(3.60+1.48)]2
=0.174
y ThisvalueofR correspondstoareflectionof17.4%oftheemitted
opticalpowerbackintothesource.

y GiventhatPcoupled =(1R)Pemitted thepowerlossL indecibelsisfound

from

L =10.log[Pcoupled/Pemitted]
=10.log(1R)=10log(0.826)=0.83dB
y Thisnumbercanbereducedbyhavinganindexmatchingmaterial

betweenthesourceandthefiberend.

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PowerLaunchingversusWavelength
y Thenumberofmodesthatcanpropagateinagradedindexfiberofcore

sizea andindexprofile is
M =[/(+2)].[2an1/]2
y Twiceasmanymodespropagateinagivenfiberat900nmthanat1300

nm.
y Theradiatedpowerpermode,Ps/M,fromasourceataparticular

wavelengthisgivenbytheradiancemultipliedbythesquareofthe
nominalsourcewavelength,
Ps/M =Bo2
y Twiceasmuchpowerislaunchedintoagivenmodeat1300nmthanat

900nm.
y Twoidenticallysizedsourcesoperatingatdifferentwavelengths but

havingidenticalradianceswilllaunchequalamountsofopticalpower
intothesamefiber.
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EquilibriumNumericalAperture
y AnexampleoftheexcesspowerlossisshowninFig.intermsof the

fiberNA.Attheinputendofthefiber,thelightacceptanceisdescribed
intermsofthelaunchnumericalapertureNAin.

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EquilibriumNumericalAperture
y IfthelightemittingareaoftheLEDislessthanthecrosssectionalarea

ofthefibercore,thenthepowercoupledintothefiberisgivenby

PLED =Ps(NAin)2
y Inlongfiberlengthsafterthelaunchedmodeshavecometo

equilibrium(whichisoftentakentooccurat50m),theeffectofthe
equilibriumnumericalapertureNAeq becomesapparent.
y Theopticalpowerinthefiberscalesas

Peq =P50 (NAeq /NAin)2

whereP50 isthepowerexpectedinthefiberatthe50mpointbasedon
thelaunchNA.

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LENSINGFORCOUPLINGIMPROVEMENT
y PossibleLensingSchemesareshown

inFig.:
y Aroundedendfiber;
y Asmallglasssphere(nonimaging
microsphere)incontactwithboth
thefiberandthesource;
y Alargersphericallensusedto
imagethesourceonthecorearea
ofthefiberend:
y Acylindricallensgenerallyformed
fromashortsectionoffiber;
y Asystemconsistingofaspherical
surfacedLEDandaspherical
endedfiber;and
y Ataperendedfiber.

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FIBERTOFIBERJOINTS

y Foragradedindexfiberwithacoreradiusa andacladdingindexr2,

andwithk=2/,thetotalnumberofmodesis

wheren(r)definestherefractiveindexvariationofthecore.
y Thetotalnumberofmodescanrelatetoalocalnumericalaperture

NA(r)through

y Thefractionofenergycoupledfromonefibertoanotheris

proportionaltothecommonmodevolumeMcomm.

y Thefibertofibercouplingefficiencyisgivenby

F =(Mcomm/ME)
whereME isthenumberofmodesintheemittingfiber.
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FIBERTOFIBERJOINTS
y ThefibertofibercouplinglossLF isgivenintermsofF as

LF =10logF
y Considerallfibermodesbeing

equallyexcited,thentheoutputbeam
fillstheentireoutputNA;asshownin
Fig.(a)
y Ifsteadystatemodalequilibriumhas

beenestablishedintheemittingfiber,
theopticalpowerisconcentrated
nearthecenterofthefibercore,as
showninFig.(b).Theopticalpower
emergingfromthefiberthenfills
onlytheequilibriumNA.

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FiberCableanFiberJoints
y Jointsinfiberareneededforanumberofreasons:
Fiberisavailableandcanonlybeinstalledinlengthsuptoabout
2km,forlongerspansajointisneeded
y Fortherepairofdamagedfiber
y Fortestpurposesatterminalequipment
y

y Therearethreebasictypesofjoint:
Opticalfiberconnector,demountableconnection
y Fusionsplice,permanentconnection
y Mechanicalsplice
y

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FiberCableanFiberJoints

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LossinFiberJoints
y Thereareseveralsourcesoflossinafiberjoint:

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FresnelLossatanInterface
y Lossisassociatedwithinterfacesbetweentwomediawherethere isa

stepchangeintherefractiveindex
y Lossoccursbecauseofreflectionattheinterface.

y FractionoflightreflectedattheinterfacegivenbyFresnelFormula,

n nb

r = a
na + nb

y ThelossindecibelduetoFresnelreflectionisgivenby

Loss Fres = 10 log10 (1 r )

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FresnelLossatanInterface
y TypicallyFresnellossorreflectionoccursatjointswithanairgap
y Forafiberjointlossoccurstwice,onceateachfiberairinterface.

y HencetotallossindecibelduetoFresnelreflectionisgivenby

n n 2
0

Loss Fres = 20 log 10 1 1
n1 + n0
y Problem:
Showthatforafiberwithann1 =1.5asmallairgapresultsinatotal
Fresnellossof.36dB
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FIBERTOFIBERJOINTS
y Mechanical misalignment losses

y Lateral(axial)misalignmentlossisadominant

Mechanicalloss.

F ,step
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Acomm 2
d
d d
=
= arccos 1
2
a

2a a 2a
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FIBERTOFIBERJOINTS
y Longitudinal offset effect

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FiberOpticConnectors
y Invariablyusedtoconnectfibertoterminalequipment,suchaslasers

orphotodiodes.
y Eachfibercladdingislocatedexactlywithinaprecisionferrule,using
adhesive.
y Jointisformedbypreciselyaligningbothferruleswithinanadaptor.
y Widevarietyofconnectorshaveevolved,tosuitdifferentapplications,

Mostlybasedonferruledesign

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OpticalFiberConnectors
y Some of the principal requirements of a good connector
design are as follows:
1- low coupling losses
2- Interchangeability
3- Ease of assembly
4- Low environmental sensitivity
5- Low-cost and reliable construction
6- Ease of connection

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Connectorloss
y Connectorlossisrandom,notonlybetweendifferent

connectorsofthesame typebutalsobetweeneachmating
(repeatability).

y Attenuation(InsertionLoss):

y ReturnLoss:
Reflectionsaretheopticalpowerdirectedbacktowardthesource.
Mostcommonsourceofreflectionisafiberjoint.
y Magnitudeofreflectionisdefinedbythe"ReturnLoss"
y

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OpticalFiberCouplers
y Couplersareoneofthemostcommondevicesinopticalfiber

systems.
y Usedtosplit,combineandroutesignalswithinsystems.

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ClassificationofFiberCouplers

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CouplerSplitRatio

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CouplerInsertionLoss

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CouplerExcessLoss

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CouplerCrosstalkorDirectivity

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Exercise
y AfourportmultimodeFBTcouplerhas60Wofopticalpower

launchedintoport1.Themeasuredpowersattheotherports
are:
y Port2:
0.004W
y Port3:
26.0W
y Port4:
27.5W
Determinetheexcessloss,insertionloss,directivity,andsplit
ratioforthiscoupler.

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