INTRODUCTION Optical fibers have capacity to carry high bandwidth signals over longer distances without significant attenuation important asset for global communications network. Basic need of joining fibers is simply to gain larger distances. can be achieved by good splice.
2. MACHNICAL SPLICE
3. FUSION SPLICE 1. FIBER OPTIC CONNECTOR These are removable joints which allow easy, fast, manual coupling and uncoupling of fibers. Typical loss due to these connector is 0.5 dB. 2. MACHNICAL SPLICE In a mechanical splice, two cleaved fiber tips are mechanically aligned to each other by a special housing . Usually, index matching gel is positioned between the fiber tips to maximize coupling and minimize back reflection.
disadvantage of mechanical splice over fusion splice Higher insertion loss. Typical insertion loss is about 0.2 dB. Typically for multimode fibers. not thought to be as reliable as fusion splices over long periods of time
3. FUSION SPLICE
These joint are permanent and very low loss joint. Typical loss is 0.01 dB Very important in long distance communication
Advantages of fusion splicing over connectors and mechanical splicing 1. Lowest back reflection (optical return loss ORL)
2. Lowest insertion loss 3. Highest mechanical strength 4. Prevents dust and other contaminants from entering the optical path 5. Permanent 6. Can with stand at extreme high temperature changes
Optical fiber fusion splicer Keyman S1 ILSINTECH (company High precesion technology)
1) End gap: cause two problems, insertion loss and return loss 2) Cleave angle: Generally cleave angle less than two degrees gives acceptable splice loss. 3) Arc time: it is the time during which the fibers are fuse and stuffed into each other. 4) Arc power: decides the amount of power delivered into the fusion area by the arc.
splice 10 log 10
Where
Pmeas
and
Pcal
are the powers measured during the measurement and calibration stages, respectively.
1.
Measurement of splice loss with splice between similar and dissimilar fiber
S no.
Fiber 1
Fiber 2
Loss (dB)
MMF
MMF
5.18
5.126
0.045
SMF
SMF
3.08
3.04
0.052
MMF
SMF
5.99
4.092
1.654
SMF
MMF
3.16
2.455
1.095
2. VARIATION IN SPLICE LOSS WITH ARC TIME When transmitting and receiving both fiber are multimode fiber (MMF-MMF)
S NO.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
ARC TIME(ms)
800 1200 1800 2400 2900 3500 4000
Loss (dB)
2.564 2.334 2.012 2.326 2.736 3.165 3.512
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500
MMF-SMF
S no. ARC TIME(ms) Power(mW) before splice
6.56
Loss (dB)
800
4.14
2
3 4 5 6 7
1200
1600 2500 3000 3500 4000
6.56
6.56 6.56 6.56 6.56 6.56
3.39
4.68 5.31 4.80 4.15 3.66
2.86
1.46 0.91 1.35 1.98 2.53
2
1.5
1
0.5 0 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 arc time in ms
RESULTS
1. splice loss for different combination of fiber is observed . It was observed the loss for similar fiber splice was less than the loss of dissimilar fibers. 2. Arc time variation is more sensitive as in case of MMF-SMF than MMF- MMF .In both the case we found a Arc time at which the loss is minimum.
Introduction to otdr(optical time domain Reflectometer) an optoelectronic instrument used to characterize an optical fiber It is used for estimating the fiber's length, attenuation , splice and connector losses etc.
optical dynamic range is limited optical pulse output power and optical pulse width. The main advantage of using an OTDR is the single-ended test.
Horizontal Parameters
Start-km: 0 km to 400 km Span: 0.1 km to 400 km Readout resolution: 0.1 m Minimum sample spacing: 8 cm Refractive index: 1.00000 to 2.00000 Length unit: km, ft, or miles Measurement points: up to 16000
Vertical Parameters
Vertical scale: 0.1 to 10.0 dB/Div Read-out resolution: 0.001 dB Reflectance range: -14 dB to -60dB Backscatter coefficient: 10 to 70 dB
Events
1. Reflective events 2. Non-Reflective events Reflective Events
occur when some of the pulse energy reflected ,for example at a connector. Produce a spike in the trace This is due to air gap between fibers.
Non-Reflective Events
occur at parts of the fiber where there is some loss but no light is reflected. produce a dip on the trace
OTDR Resolution
OTDR resolution is a measure of how close two events can be spaced and still be recognized as two separate events. The duration of the measurement pulse create a resolution limitation for OTDR Very short pulse can cause detection problem .
EXPERIMENTS
1. To find break point or fiber length of given fiber spool and fiber link
OBSERVATIONS When wavelength selected 1550 nm
S No. Length of fiber link (km)
0.5 1.0 2.0 Unknown Unknown Unknown
Refractive index
1.4718 1.4718 1.4718 1.4718 1.4718 1.4718
Wavelength (nm)
1550 1550 1550 1550 1550 1550
Threshold dB
3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
1 2 3 4 5 6
Cumulative loss dB
---0.689 1.751 2.185 2.437
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
3. To see the event of fusion(non reflective) link between MMF and SMF
For (= 1310nm)
s.no event Location km Reflectance dB Insertion Loss dB Attenuation loss dB/km Cumulative loss dB
1 2 3
0 0.775 10.900
-24.85 ----46.80
--0.352 ----
-0.965 4.67
For (= 1550nm)
s.no event Location km Reflectance dB Insertion Loss dB Attenuation loss dB/km Cumulative loss dB
1 2 3
0 0.775 10.900
-23.85 ----36.28
--0.203 ----
-0.965 4.67
4. Comparison of loss created by splicing machine for different offset with the OTDR reading
s.no. Offset dB Location km reflectance Insertion loss Attenuation loss dB/km 0.201 0.200 0.200 0.201 0.201 0.203 0.204 Cumulative Loss dB 4.91 4.89 4.91 5.01 5.03 5.21 5.61
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
-----------------
5. Reading for bending loss , here fiber is wrapped around a torch having diameter 3cm
s.no. No. of turns Around torch 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Location km reflectance Insertion loss Attenuation loss dB/km 0.206 0.203 0.202 0.201 0.201 0.203 0.204 Cumulative Loss dB 4.76 4.89 4.91 4.96 4.99 5.11 5.21
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
-----------------
Vg=1.4718 =2.04 x 108 m/s L = Vg x = 2.04 meter So Theoretically expected resolution should be 2.04 meter . When only one splice point is there
s.no event Location km Reflectance dB Insertion Loss dB 0.0 0.043 --Attenuation loss dB/km --0.352 ---Cumulative loss dB -0.965 4.67
1 2 3
0 0.775 10.900
-24.85 ----46.80
Reflective
-24.64
0.0
---
--
2
3
Non Reflective
Reflective
0.775
10.900
----46.89
0.053
---
0.365
----
0.965
4.66
Results/conclusion 1. experimentally founded fiber length was quite close to the length of the known fiber. 2. For combination of fiber spool connected by connector event was seen. All event was reflective type. Insertion loss produced by connector was around 0.4-0.5 dB. 3. Insertion loss for a fusion splice was found to be 0.045 dB. attenuation loss is minimum at wavelength 1550 nm , 0.203 dB/km. 4. Loss showed by the splicing machine was greater than the loss showed by OTDR for a fiber joint. 5. As we keep on increasing no. of turns of fiber around torch, loss due to bending also increase 6. Theoretically it was expected that resolution should be 2.01 meter. but one non refractive event instead of two separated by a distance of 6 meter was observed and hence at least 6 meter is not resolution of this OTDR.
REFERENCES 1. User Manual of Keyman F1 splicer (company ILSINTECH high precision technology) 2. Small Fusion Splicer and Fiber Cleaver by Yoshinori Iwashita et al. For Precision instrument product department 3. User manual of E6000C mini-OTDR 4. Introduction to Fiber Optics Prof. A.K Ghatak and Prof. K.Thyagarajan (Cambridge University
.
5 Minimization of Splice Loss Between a Single Mode Fiber and an Erbium Doped Fiber by Salil Pradhan, Amir Mazloom, John Arbulich and K. Srihari, PhD. (IEEE Electronic Components and Technology Conference.)