ACKNOWLEDGEMEN

T
I would like to express my special
thanks to my Physics master Mr. P
Chandiran for his guidance and his
support in completion of this project.
I would also like to express my gratitude
to the Principal, the Vice-Principal and
the Administrative wonderful
opportunity.
 SAINIK SCHOOL
AMARAVATHINAGAR

This is to certify that cadet…………………… CBSE

Roll no:……………….. has satisfactorily completed
the Project work in Physics laid down in the
regulations of CBSE for the AISSCE Practical
examination for class XII to be held in Sainik School
Amaravathinagar on

(P EXAMINERS:

Chandiran) 1 :Name:…..........................(Signature)
External
PGT for

Physics 2. Name: …………P Chandiran

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 CONTENTS
1.Introduction
2.Applications of Optical Fibres
3.Structure of Optical Fibres
4.Principle of Operation
5. Types of Optical Fibres
6. Pros of Optical Fibres
7. Cons of Optical
Fibres 8Conclusion
 INTRODUCTIO
N
An optical fibre (or fibre) is a glass or plastic fibre that carries light along its
length. Fibre optics is the overlap of applied science and engineering
concerned with the design and application of optical fibres. Optical fibres
are widely used in fibre- optic communications, which permits transmission
over longer distances and at higher bandwidths (data rates) than other
forms of communications. Fibres are used instead of metal wires because
signals travel along them with less loss, and they are also immune to
electromagnetic interference. Fibres are also used for illumination, and are
wrapped in bundles so they can be used to carry images, thus allowing
viewing in tight spaces. Specially designed fibres are used for a variety of
other applications, including sensors and fibre lasers.

Joining lengths of optical fibre is more complex than

joining electrical wire or cable. The ends of the
fibres must be carefully cleaved, and then spliced
together either mechanically or by fusing them
together with an electric arc. Special connectors are
used to make removable connections.
 APPLICATIONS OF OPTICAL
FIIBRES
Optical fibre
communication
Optical fibre can be used as a medium for telecommunication and
networking because it is flexible and can be bundled as cables. It is
especially advantageous for
long-distance communications, because light propagates through the fibre
with little attenuation compared to electrical cables. This allows long
distances to be spanned with few repeaters. Additionally, the per-channel
light signals propagating in the fibre can be modulated at rates as high as
111 gigabits per second, although 10 or 40 Gb/s is typical in deployed
systems.

Each fibre can carry many independent channels, each

using a different wavelength of light (wavelength-
division multiplexing (WDM)). The net data rate (data
rate without overhead bytes) per fibre is the per-
channel data rate reduced by the FEC overhead,
multiplied by the number of channels.
Fibre is also immune to electrical interference; there is no cross-talk between signals in
different cables and no pickup of environmental noise. Non-armoured fibre cables do not
conduct electricity, which makes fibre a good solution for protecting communications
equipment located in high voltage environments such as power generation facilities, or
metal communication structures prone to lightning strikes. They can also be used in
environments where explosive fumes are present, without danger of ignition.

Although fibres can be made out of transparent plastic, glass, or a

combination of the two, the fibres used in long- distance
telecommunications applications are always glass, because of the lower
optical attenuation.

Copper Fiber
Electrical Noise susceptible Immune
unless Bonded-
pair and/or shield
Spark hazard Hazardous No spark hazard
Durablity lower, but can be High
improved with
the light jacketing
cost Lower higher
Both multi- mode and single-mode fibres are used in communications, with multi-mode fibre used
mostly for short distances, up to 550 m (600 yards), and single-mode fibre used for longer distance
links. Because of the tighter tolerances required to couple light into and between single-mode
fibres (core diameter about 10 micrometres), single- mode transmitters, receivers, amplifiers and
other components are generally more expensive than multi-mode components.

Fibre optic
sensors
Fibres have many uses in remote sensing. In some applications, the sensor is itself an
optical fibre. In other cases, fibre is used to connect a non-fibreoptic sensor to a
measurement system. Depending on the application, fibre may be used because of its
small size, or the fact that no electrical power is needed at the remote location, or
because many sensors can be multiplexed along the length of a fibre by using
different wavelengths of light for each sensor, or by sensing the time delay as light
passes along the fibre through each sensor. Time delay can be determined using a
device such as an optical time-domain reflectometer.
 Extrinsic fibre optic sensors use an optical fibre cable, normally a multi- mode one, to transmit
modulated light from either a non-fibre optical sensor, or an electronic sensor connected to an
optical transmitter. A major benefit of extrinsic sensors is their ability to reach places which are
otherwise inaccessible.

An example is the measurement of temperature inside aircraft jet engines by using a fibre to
transmit radiation into a radiation pyrometer located outside the engine. Extrinsic sensors can also
be used in the same way to measure the internal temperature of electrical transformers, where the
extreme electromagnetic fields present make other measurement techniques impossible.

Other uses of optical

fibres
Optical fibre is also used in imaging optics. A coherent bundle of fibres is
used, sometimes along with lenses, for a long, thin imaging device called
an endoscope, which is used to view objects through a small hole. Medical
endoscopes are used for minimally invasive exploratory or surgical
procedures (endoscopy). Industrial endoscopes (see fiberscope or
borescope) are used for inspecting anything hard to reach, such as jet
engine interiors.
 In spectroscopy, optical fibre bundles are used to transmit light from a spectrometer
to a substance which cannot be placed inside the spectrometer itself, in order to
analyse its composition. A spectrometer analyses substance by bouncing light off of
and through them. By using fibres, a spectrometer can be used to study objects that
are too large to fit inside, or gasses, or reactions which occur in pressure vessels

Fibres are widely used in illumination applications. They are used as

light guides in medical and other applications where bright light
needs to be shone on a target without a clear line-of-sight path. In
some buildings, optical fibres are used to route sunlight from the roof
to other parts of the building. Optical fibre illumination is also used
for decorative applications, including signs, art, and artificial
Christmas trees. Swarovski boutiques use optical fibres to illuminate
their crystal showcases from many different angles while only
employing one light source.
 Structure of Optical
Fibres
The three basic elements of a fibre optic cable are the core, the
cladding and the coating.

Core: This is the light transmission area of the fibre, either glass or plastic. The
larger the core, the more light that transmitted into the fibre

Claddin The function of the cladding is to provide a lower refractive index at

the
g: core interface in order to cause reflection within the core so that light waves
are transmitted through the fibre.

Coatin Coatings are

usually
g: multi-layers of
plastics applied to
preserve fibre strength, absorb shock and
provide extra fibre protection. These
buffer coatings are available from
250 microns to 900 microns.
 Principle of Operation
Total Internal Reflection
When light travelling in a dense medium hits a boundary at a steep angle
(larger than the "critical angle" for the boundary), the light will be
completely reflected. This effect is used in optical fibres to confine light in
the core. Light travels along the fibre bouncing back and forth off of the
boundary. Because the light must strike the boundary with an angle greater
than the critical angle, only light that enters the fibre within a certain range
of angles can travel down the fibre without leaking out. This range of angles
is called the acceptance cone of the fibre. The size of this acceptance cone
is a function of the refractive index difference between the fibre's core and
cladding.

In simpler terms, there is a maximum angle from the fibre axis at

which light may enter the fibre so that it will propagate, or travel, in
the core of the fibre. The sine of this maximum angle is the
Numerical Aperture (NA) of the fibre. Fibre with a larger NA requires
less precision to splice and work with than fibre with a smaller NA.
Single-mode fibre has a small NA.
 Types of Optical
Fibres
Single Mode Cable
Single Mode cable is a single stand (most applications use 2 fibres) of glass fibre
with a diameter of 8.3 to 10 microns that has one mode of transmission. Single
Mode Fibre with a relatively narrow diameter, through which only one mode will
propagate typically 1310 or 1550nm. Carries higher bandwidth than multimode
fibre, but requires a light source with a narrow spectral width. Synonyms mono-
mode optical fibre,

Single-mode fibre, single-mode optical waveguide, uni-mode fibre. Single Modem

fibre is used in many applications where data is sent at multi-frequency (WDM
Wave-Division-Multiplexing) so only one cable is needed - (single-mode on one
single fibre) Single-mode fibre gives you a higher transmission rate and up to 50
times more distance than multimode, but it also costs more. Single- mode fibre has
a much smaller core than multimode.
The small core and single light-wave virtually eliminate any distortion that could
result from overlapping light pulses, providing the least signal attenuation and the
highest transmission speeds of any fibre cable type. Single-mode optical fibre is an
optical fibre in which only the lowest order bound mode can propagate at the
wavelength of interest typically 1300 to 1320nm.
 Multi-Mode
Cable
Multi-Mode cable :- has a little bit bigger diameter, with a common diameter in the
50-to-100-micron range for the light carry component (in the US the most common size is
62.5um). Most applications in which Multi-mode fibre is used, 2 fibres are used (WDM is not
normally used on multi-mode fibre). POF is a newer plastic-based cable which promises
performance similar to glass cable on very short runs, but at a lower cost.

Multimode fibre gives you high bandwidth at high speeds (10 to

100MBS - Gigabit to 275m to 2km) over medium distances. Light
waves are dispersed into numerous paths, or modes, as they travel
through the cable's core typically 850 or 1300nm. Typical multimode
fibre core diameters are 50, 62.5, and 100 micrometres. However, in
long cable runs (greater than 3000 feet [914.4 meters), multiple
paths of light can cause signal distortion at the receiving end,
resulting in an unclear and incomplete data transmission so designers
now call for single mode fibre in new applications using Gigabit and
beyond.
 Pros of Using Optical
Fibres
Extremely High Bandwidth: No other cable-based data transmission medium
offers the bandwidth that fibre does. The volume of data that fibre optic cables transmit per unit
time is far great than copper cables.

Longer Distance: In fibre optic transmission, optical cables are

capable of providing low power loss, which enables signals can be
transmitted to a longer distance than copper cables.

Resistance to Electromagnetic Interference:

In practical cable deployment, it's inevitable to meet environments like power
substations, heating, ventilating and other industrial sources of interference. However,
fibre has a very low rate of bit error (10 EXP-13), as a result of fibre being so resistant to
electromagnetic interference. Fibre optic transmission is virtually noise free.
Low Security Risk: Data or signals are transmitted via light in fibre optic
transmission. Therefore, there is no way to detect the data being transmitted by "listening in"
to the electromagnetic energy "leaking" through the cable, which ensures the absolute
security of information.

Small Size: Fibre optic cable has a very small diameter. For
instance, the cable diameter of a single OM3 multimode fibre is about 2mm,
which is smaller than that of coaxial copper cable. Small size saves more
space in fibre optic transmission.

Cons of Using Optical

Fibres
Fragility: Usually optical fibre cables are made of glass, which lends to they are more
fragile than electrical wires. In addition, glass can be affected by various chemicals including
hydrogen gas (a problem in underwater cables), making them need more cares when deployed
underground.
Difficult to Install: It's not easy to splice fibre optic cable. And if you bend
them too much, they will break. And fibre cable is highly susceptible to becoming cut or
damaged during installation or construction activities. All these make it difficult to install.

Attenuation & Dispersion: As transmission distance

getting longer, light will be attenuated and dispersed, which requires extra optical
components like EDFA to be added.

Cost Is Higher Than Copper Cable: Despite the fact that fibre
optic installation costs are dropping by as much as 60% a year, installing fibre optic cabling is
still relatively higher than copper cables. Because copper cable installation does not need extra
care like fibre cables. However, optical fibre is still moving into the local loop, and through
technologies such as FTTx (fibre to the home, premises, etc.) and PONS (passive optical
networks), enabling subscriber and end user broadband access.
 CONCLUSION

Fibre optic transmission is widely used for data transmission and

is increasingly being used in place of metal wires because of its
efficiency and high transmission capacity. We have seen the fibre
optic cables have replaced traditional copper twisted-pair cable or
coaxial cable. As the use and demand for great bandwidth and
fast speed, there is no doubt that fibre optic transmission will
bring more opportunities and be continuously researched and
expanded to cater for future demands