FIBER OPTICS REVIEW NOTES
1. Fiber optics is coined by
NS Kapany
2. What are three means of producing light?
Mechanical, electrical and chemical
3. What is the smallest unit of radiant energy?
A photon
4. What unit is used to measure the different
wavelengths of light?
Angstrom unit
5. What are the three primary colors of light?
Red, green and blue
6. What are the three secondary colors of light?
Magenta, yellow and cyan
7. A substance that transmits light but through which an
object cannot be seen clearly is known as what kind of
substance?
Translucent
8. What type of wave motion is represented by motion
of water?
Transverse-wave motion
9. A substance that transmits almost all of the light
waves falling upon it is known as what type of
substance?
Transparent
10. A substance that is unable to transmit any light
waves is known as what type of substance?
Opaque
11. What is the law of reflection
The law of reflection states that the angle of
incidence is equal to the angle of reflection
12. When a wave is reflected from a surface, energy is
reflected. When is the reflection of energy greatest?
When the wave is nearly parallel to the reflecting
surface
13. When is the reflection energy the least?
When the wave is perpendicular to the reflecting
surface
14. Light waves obey what law?
The law of reflection
15. 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
16. When light strikes a white piece of paper, the light is
reflected in all directions. What do you call this
scattering of light
Diffusion
17. What is the basic optical-material property relevant
to optical fiber light transmission?
The index of refraction
18. What name is given to the angle where total internal
reflection occurs?
Critical angle of incidence
19. List the three parts of optical fiber
Core, cladding and coating or buffer
20. Light transmission along an optical fiber is described
by two theories. Which theory is used to approximate
light acceptance and guiding properties of an optical
fiber?
The ray theory
21. Light rays that passes thru the longitudinal axis at
the fiber core are called
meridional rays
22. Meridional rays are classified as either bound or
unbound rays. Bound rays propagate through the fiber
according to what property?
Total internal reflection
23. What mechanisms in fiber waveguides weaken and
distort the optical signals?
Scattering, absorption and dispersion
24. How can loss be reduced during construction (or
fabrication) of optical fibers?
By removing the impurities from the optical fiber
25. What fiber property does numerical aperture (NA)
measure?
NA measures the light-gathering ability of the
optical fiber
26. 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
27. The mode theory uses electromagnetic wave
behavior to describe the propagation of light along the
fiber. What is the set of guided electromagnetic waves
called?
Modes of fiber
28. 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 is called?
Cutoff wavelength
29. What type of optical fiber operates below cutoff
wavelength?
Multimode fiber
30. 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
FIBER OPTICS REVIEW NOTES
31. The number of modes propagated in a multimode
fiber depends on the core size and numerical aperture
(NA). If the core size and the NA decrease, will the
number of modes propagated increase of decrease?
Decrease
32. What is the main loss mechanism between
ultraviolet and infrared absorption regions?
Rayleigh scattering
33. Name the two types of intramodal, or chromatic,
dispersion. Material dispersion and waveguide
dispersion
34. Which dispersion mechanism (material or
waveguide) is a function of the sine of the fiber’s core
relative to the waveguide operation?
Waveguide dispersion
35. Modes of 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
36. The reflective index of a fiber core is uniform and
undergoes an abrupt change at the core-cladding
boundary. Is this fiber a step-index or graded-index
fiber?
Step-index
37. What happens to the fundamental mode as the
operating wavelength becomes longer than the single
mode cutoff wavelength?
The fundamental mode becomes increasingly lossy
38. Give two reasons why optical fiber manufacturers
depart from the traditional circular core cladding, low-
loss glass fiber design?
To increase performance and reduce cost
39. Why do cable manufactures introduce a controlled
twist to the stacked ribbons during the cabling process?
To minimize fiber stress when the cable is bent
40. Which fiber optic component (splice, connector, or
coupler) makes a permanent connection in a distributed
system?
Splice
41. What are the main causes of coupling loss?
Poor fiber end preparation and poor fiber
alignment
42. When the axes of two connected fibers are no longer
in parallel, the two connected fibers are in what kind of
misalignment?
Angular misalignment
43. Which are more sensitive to alignment errors, single
mode or multimode fibers?
Single mode
44. Quality fiber-end preparation is essential for proper
system operation. What property must an optical fiber-
end face have to ensure proper fiber connection?
Be flat, smooth, and perpendicular to the fiber
axis
45. What is the basic fiber cleaving technique for
preparing optical fibers for coupling?
Score-and-break
46. Fiber splicing is divided into two broad categories
that describe the techniques used for fiber splicing.
What are they?
Mechanical and fusion splicing
47. What fiber property directly affects splice-loss in
fusion splicing?
The angles and quality of the two fiber-end faces
48. What is a short discharge of electric current that
prepares the fiber ends for fusion is called?
Prefusion
49. Do small core distortions formed by arc fusion’s self-
alignment mechanism have more of an affect on light
propagating through multimode or single mode fibers?
Single mode fibers
50. Which is the more critical parameter in maintaining
total insertion loss below the required level, fiber
alignment of fiber mismatch?
Fiber alignment
51. Fiber optic connectors can reduce system
performance by increasing what two types of noise?
Modal and reflection
52. Which type of fiber optic connector (butt-jointed or
expanded beam) brings the prepared ends of two optical
fibers into contact?
Butt-jointed connectors
53. Is coupling loss from fiber separation and lateral
misalignment more critical in expanded beam or butt-
jointed connectors?
Butt-jointed connectors
54. Is coupling loss from angular misalignment more
critical in expanded beam or butt-jointed connectors?
Expanded beam connectors
55. Which type of optical splitter (Y-coupler or T-
coupler) splits only a small amount of power from the
input fiber to one of the output fibers?
T-coupler
56. What two properties of the launch condition may
affect multimode fiber attenuation measurements?
Launch spot size and angular distribution
57. Does underfilling a multimode optical fiber excite
mainly high-order of low-order modes?
FIBER OPTICS REVIEW NOTES
Low-order modes
58. A mode filter is a device that attenuates specific
modes propagating in the core of an optical fiber. What
mode propagating along single mode fibers do mode
filters eliminate?
Second-order mode
59. What are the two most common types of mode
filters?
Free-form loop and mandrel wrap
60. The cutoff wavelength of matched-clad and
depressed-clad single mode fibers varies according to
the fiber’s radius of curvature and length. The cutoff
wavelength of which single mode fiber type is more
sensitive to length?
Depressed-clad
61. What determines the range of wavelengths over
which meaningful data is obtained for calculating the
chromatic dispersion?
The wavelength range of the optical source(s)
used
62. Near-filed power distributions describe the emitted
power per unit are in the near-field region. Describe the
near-field region.
The near-field region is the region close to the
fiber0end face
63. How is the core diameter defined?
The core diameter is define as the diameter at
which the near-filed intensity is 2.5 percent of the
maximum intensity
64. Far-field power distributions describe the emitted
power per unit area as a function of angle theta in the
far-field region. Describe the far-field region.
The far-field region is the region far from the
fiber-end face
65. Will fiber coupling loss generally increase of
decrease if the mode field diameter of a single mode
fiber is decreased?
Increase
66. In multimode fibers, how do fiber joints increase
fiber attenuation following the joint?
By disturbing the fiber’s mode power distribution
(MPD)
67. Reflectance is given as what ration?
The ratio of reflected optical power to incident
optical power
68. When is an OTDR recommended for conducting field
measurements on installed optical fibers or links?
When installed optical fiber cables or links are 50
meters or more in length
69. An OTDR measure the fraction of light that is
reflected back from the fiber or link under test. What
causes light to be reflected back into the OTDR?
Rayleigh scattering and Fresnel reflection
70. What is a temporary or permanent local deviation of
the OTDR signal in the upward of downward direction
called?
A point defect
71. Why is dead-zone fiber placed between the test fiber
and OTDR when conducting attenuation measurements?
To reduce the effect of the initial reflection at the
OTDR
72. The amount of backscattered optical power at each
point depends on what two properties?
Forward optical power and backscatter capture
coefficient
73. Semiconductor LEDs emit incoherent light. Define
incoherent light.
Light waves that lack a fixed-phase relationship
74. What are the two most common semiconductor
materials used in electronic and electro-optic devices?
Silicon and gallium arsenide
75. Describe the stimulated emission.
A photon initially produced by a spontaneous
emission in the active region interacts with the
laser material to produce additional photons
76. What are the three basic LED types?
Surface-emitting LEDs (SLEDs) edge-emitting
LEDs (ELEDs) and super luminescent diodes
(SLDs)
77. Which types of LEDs are the preferred optical
sources for short-distance, low-data-rate fiber optic
systems?
SLEDs and ELEDs
78. What are facets?
Cut or polished surfaces at each end of the narrow
active region of an ELED
79. What is the lowest current at which stimulated
emission exceeds spontaneous emission in a
semiconductor laser called?
Threshold current
80. Which type of optical source usually lacks reflective
facets and in some cases is designed to suppress
reflections back into the active region?
LED
81. How does the source drive circuit intensity modulate
the source?
By varying the current through the source
82. What is a prebias?
FIBER OPTICS REVIEW NOTES
A current applied in the laser off state just less
than the threshold current
83. What are the two types of output interfaces for fiber
optic transmitters?
Optical connectors and optical fiber pigtails
84. What type of source is typically used in low-data-
rate digital applications?
LED
85. Why would a laser diode be used in a low-data-rate
digital application?
When extremely high transmitter output powers
are required
86. What type of source is generally used in high-data-
rate digital applications?
Laser diode
OPTICAL DETECTORS AND FIBE OPTIC RECEIVERS
87. Which performance parameter is the minimum
amount of optical power required to achieve a specific
bit-error rate (BER) in digital systems or a given signal-
to-noise ratio (SNR) in analog systems?
Receiver sensitivity
88. List the two principal optical detectors used in fiber
optic systems.
The semiconductor positive-intrinsic-negative
(PIN) photodiode and avalanche photodiode
(APD)
89. What are the four most common materials used in
semiconductor detector fabrication?
Silicon, gallium arsenide, germanium and indium
phosphide
90. What is a photocurrent?
The current produced when photons are incident
on the detector active area
91. Define responsivity.
The ratio of the optical detector’s output
photocurrent in amperes to the incident optical
power in watts
92. How are PIN photodiodes usually biased?
Reverse-biased
93. What is the dark current?
The leakage current that continues to flow
through a photodetector when there is no incident
light
94. Will dark current increase or decrease as the
temperature of the photodiode increases?
Increase
95. Should the capacitance of the photodetector be kept
small or large to prevent the RC time constant from
limiting the response time?
Small
96. Trade-offs between competing effects are necessary
for high speed response. Which competing effect (fast
transit time, low capacitance, or high quantum
efficiency) requires a thin active area?
Fast Transit time
97. Why is detector saturation not generally a problem
in fiber optic communications systems?
Because fiber optic communications systems
operate at low optical power levels
98. How can the gain of an APD be increased?
By increasing the reverse-bias voltage
99. List the key operational parameters used to define
receiver performance.
Receiver sensitivity, bandwidth, and dynamic
range
100. List the main types of receiver noise.
Thermal noise, dark current noise, and quantum
noise
101. What is the main factor that determines receiver
sensitivity?
Noise
102. For a reduction in thermal noise, should the value
of the detector’s load resistor be increased or
decreased?
Increased
103. What are two types of noise that manifest
themselves as shot noise?
Dark current and quantum noise
104. What are the two basic types of preamplifiers used
in fiber optic receivers?
The high-impedance amplifier and the
transimpedance amplifier
105. Which preamplifier design (high-impedance or
transimpedance) provides improvements in bandwidth
and greater dynamic range with some degradation in
sensitivity from an increase in noise?
Transimpedance
106. For what types of applications are APDs generally
used?
For high-data-rate applications and for low- or
moderate-data-rate applications where receivers
with extremely low sensitivities are required
107. What type of modulation do most analog fiber optic
communications systems use?
Intensity modulation
108. What two analyses are performed to determine if a
link design is viable?
Power budget and rise time budget
FIBER OPTICS REVIEW NOTES
109. Optical fibers or cables should never be bent at a Absorption and Rayleigh Scattering Loss
radius of curvature smaller than a certain value. Identify 127. Rayleigh Scattering Loss at 8020 nm has a typical
this radius of curvature. value of _____.
Minimum bend radius 2.5 dB
110. In fiber optics, the main disadvantage of plastic 128. Loss due to valence electron:
over glass fiber is UV absorption
high attenuation 129. Laser used in fiber optic communications.
111. The wavelength of visible spectrum is within the Semiconductor laser
range of 130. What is the maximum data rate for fiber optics?
0.4 to 0.8 microns 10 Gbps
112. Range of frequency used for fiber optic (FO) 131. What is the typical bandwidth of the single-mode
system is step-index fiber?
100 – 1000 THz 50 to 100 GHz/km
113. The bending of light rays due to change in velocity 132. What is the achievable rate of single-mode step-
as a result of traveling from one medium to the other. index fiber as used in digital communication?
Refraction 2 Gigabytes
114. What is the infrared range used for fiber optics in 133. What is the typical margin of safety in dB used in
Angstrom? preparing the power budget for fiber-optic system?
7,000 to 12,000 5 – 10 dB
115. In fiber optic system, the core of PCs fiber is FIBER OPTIC PROBLEMS
Glass 134. A fiber has an index of refraction of 1.6 for the
116. What is the primary specification of a fiber cable core and 1.4 for the cladding. Calculate: (a) critical
usually expressed as the loss in dB/km? angle (b) angle of refraction for angle of incidence of 30
Attenuation degrees (c) angle of refraction for angle of incidence of
117. What is the most widely used light generator in 70 degrees.
fiber optic system? (a) 61 degrees (b) 34.8 degrees (c) 70 degrees
Injection laser diode
118. A more widely used and most sensitive
photosensor is _____.
Avalanche photodiode
135. Calculate the numerical aperture and the
119. Attenuation null is fiber optic occurs at what
maximum angle of acceptance for the fiber that has an
wavelength?
index of refraction of 1.6 for the core and 1.4 for the
1.3 microns
cladding.
120. 1 angstrom is equal to how many microns?
N.A. = 0.775 / 50.8 degrees
0.0001 microns
121. 1 angstrom is equal to how many nanometers?
10 ns 136. A single-mode fiber has a numerical aperture of
122. A measure of quality of a fiber optic system. 0.15. what is the maximum core diameter it could have
Maximum distance between repeaters for use with infrared light with a wavelength of 820 nm?
123. The average maximum distance between repeaters 4.2 um
in a fiber optic system.
10 – 30 km
124. Fiber optics performance is usually indicated by
137. An optical fiber has a bandwidth-distance product
product of bit rate and distance
of 500 MHz-km. if a bandwidth of 85 MHz is required for
125. The external incident angle for which light will
a particular mode of transmission, what is the maximum
propagate in the fiber is known as _____.
distance that can be used between repeaters?
Acceptance angle
5.88 km
126. In fiber optics, the dominant loss mechanisms in
silica fiber are _____.
FIBER OPTICS REVIEW NOTES
138. The fiber has zero dispersion at a wavelength of
1310 nm and has a zero-dispersion slope of 0.05 ps
(nm2-km). Calculate the total dispersion of 50 km of
this fiber when it is used with a source having a line
width of 2 nm at a wavelength of 1550 nm.
949 ps

139. Find the bandwidth and bandwidth distance

product for the fiber with total dispersion of 949 ps and
a total length of 50 km.
B = 526.8 MHz, Bandwidth-Distance product =
26.3 GHz-km

140. Find the energy in electronvolts, in one photon at a

wavelength of 1 um.
E = 1.24 eV

141. A typical photodiode has an input optical power of

500 nW. Calculate the diode current.
150 nA

142. A fiber optic link extends for 40 km. The laser

diode emitter has an output power of 1.5 mW, and the
receiver requires a signal strength of -25 dBm for a
satisfactory signal-to-noise ratio. The fiber is available in
lengths of 2.5 km and can be spliced with a loss of 0.25
dB per slice. The fiber has a loss of 0.3 dB/km. The total
of all the connector losses at the two ends is 4 dB.
Calculate the available system margin.
7.01 dB
143. A 45 km length of fiber must not lengthen pulses
by more than 100 ns. Find the maximum permissible
value for the pulse spreading contrast.
2.22 ns/km
144. A fiber is rated as having a bandwidth-distance
product of 500 MHz-km. Find its dispersion in ns/km,
and the rise time of a pulse in a 5 km length of this
cable.
5 ns