Fiber dispersion

• Fiber dispersion results in optical pulse broadening and hence

digital signal degradation.

Optical pulse broadened pulse

Optical fiber
input output

Dispersion mechanisms: 1. Modal (or intermodal) dispersion

2. Chromatic dispersion (CD)
3. Polarization mode dispersion (PMD)
22
Pulse broadening limits fiber bandwidth (data rate)

Detection
1 0 1
threshold

Intersymbol interference
(ISI)

Signal distorted
Fiber length (km)

• An increasing number of errors may be encountered on the digital

optical channel as the ISI becomes more pronounced. 23
 1. Modal dispersion
• When numerous waveguide modes are propagating, they all travel
with different net velocities with respect to the waveguide axis.

• An input waveform distorts during propagation because its energy

is distributed among several modes, each traveling at a different speed.

• Parts of the wave arrive at the output before other parts, spreading out
the waveform. This is thus known as multimode (modal) dispersion.

• Multimode dispersion does not depend on the source linewidth

(even a single wavelength can be simultaneously carried by multiple
modes in a waveguide).

• Multimode dispersion would not occur if the waveguide allows only

one mode to propagate - the advantage of single-mode waveguides!24
 Modal dispersion as shown from the mode chart of
a symmetric slab waveguide
(neff = n1) 1
0.9
m=0
Normalized guide index b

0.8 1
0.7

TE 2
0.6

0.5

0.4
3
0.3
TM
0.2
4
0.1
5
(neff = n2) 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

V ( 1/l)
• Phase velocity for mode m = w/bm = w/(neff(m) k0)
(note that m = 0 mode is the slowest mode) 25
 Modal dispersion in multimode waveguides

m=2 f2

m=1 f1

m=0 f0

The carrier wave can propagate along all these different “zig-zag”
ray paths of different path lengths.
26
Modal dispersion as shown from the LP mode chart of a
silica optical fiber
(neff = n1)

Normalized guide index b

(neff = n2)

V ( 1/l)

• Phase velocity for LP mode = w/blm = w/(neff(lm) k0)

(note that LP01 mode is the slowest mode)
27
 Modal dispersion results in pulse broadening
fastest mode
T m=3
Optical pulse 3
2 m=2
T
1
T m=0 m=1
T
multimode fiber slowest mode m=0
T
time

T + DT

modal dispersion: different modes arrive at the receiver with different

delays => pulse broadening
28
 Estimated modal dispersion pulse broadening using phase velocity

• A zero-order mode traveling near the waveguide axis needs time:

t0 = L/vm=0  Ln1/c (vm=0  c/n1) n1

L
• The highest-order mode traveling near the critical angle needs time:

tm = L/vm  Ln2/c (vm  c/n2) ~fc

=> the pulse broadening due to modal dispersion:

DT  t0 – tm  (L/c) (n1 – n2)

 (L/2cn1) NA2 (n1 ~ n2)

29
 e.g. How much will a light pulse spread after traveling along
1 km of a step-index fiber whose NA = 0.275 and ncore = 1.487?

How does modal dispersion restricts fiber bit rate?

Suppose we transmit at a low bit rate of 10 Mb/s

=> Pulse duration = 1 / 107 s = 100 ns

Using the above e.g., each pulse will spread up to  100 ns (i.e. 
pulse duration !) every km

The broadened pulses overlap! (Intersymbol interference (ISI))

*Modal dispersion limits the bit rate of a fiber-optic link to ~ 10 Mb/s.

(a coaxial cable supports this bit rate easily!) 30
 Bit-rate distance product
• We can relate the pulse broadening DT to the information-carrying
capacity of the fiber measured through the bit rate B.

• Although a precise relation between B and DT depends on many

details, such as the pulse shape, it is intuitively clear that DT should
be less than the allocated bit time slot given by 1/B.

An order-of-magnitude estimate of the supported bit rate is obtained

from the condition BDT < 1.
Bit-rate distance product (limited by modal dispersion)

BL < 2c ncore / NA2

This condition provides a rough estimate of a fundamental limitation
of step-index multimode fibers.
31
(the smaller is the NA, the larger is the bit-rate distance product)
 The capacity of optical communications systems is frequently
measured in terms of the bit rate-distance product.

e.g. If a system is capable of transmitting 10 Mb/s over a distance

of 1 km, it is said to have a bit rate-distance product of
10 (Mb/s)-km.

This may be suitable for some local-area networks (LANs).

Note that the same system can transmit 100 Mb/s along 100 m, or
1 Gb/s along 10 m, or 10 Gb/s along 1 m, or 100 Gb/s along 10 cm,
1 Tb/s along 1 cm

32
 Single-mode fiber eliminates modal dispersion

cladding
core f0

• The main advantage of single-mode fibers is to propagate only one

mode so that modal dispersion is absent.

• However, pulse broadening does not disappear altogether. The group

velocity associated with the fundamental mode is frequency dependent
within the pulse spectral linewidth because of chromatic dispersion.
33
 2. Chromatic dispersion
• Chromatic dispersion (CD) may occur in all types of optical
fiber. The optical pulse broadening results from the finite spectral
linewidth of the optical source and the modulated carrier.

intensity 1.0

0.5 Dl linewidth

l(nm)
lo
*In the case of the semiconductor laser Dl corresponds to only a
fraction of % of the centre wavelength lo. For LEDs, Dl is
likely to be a significant percentage of lo. 34
 Spectral linewidth
• Real sources emit over a range of wavelengths. This range is the
source linewidth or spectral width.

• The smaller is the linewidth, the smaller is the spread in wavelengths

or frequencies, the more coherent is the source.

• An ideal perfectly coherent source emits light at a single wavelength.

It has zero linewidth and is perfectly monochromatic.

Light sources Linewidth (nm)

Light-emitting diodes 20 nm – 100 nm
Semiconductor laser diodes 1 nm – 5 nm
Nd:YAG solid-state lasers 0.1 nm
HeNe gas lasers 0.002 nm 35
 • Pulse broadening occurs because there may be propagation delay
differences among the spectral components of the transmitted signal.

input pulse broadened pulse

single mode

L Arrives
lo+(Dl/2)
last

lo Different spectral components

have different time delays
Arrives
lo-(Dl/2) => pulse broadening first

time time

Chromatic dispersion (CD): Different spectral components of a pulse

travel at different group velocities. This is known as group velocity
dispersion (GVD). 36
Dispersion in Single-mode Fibres

Single-mode fibres are far superior to multimode fibres in

dispersion characteristics, because they avoid multipath
effects, ie. energy of injected pulse is transported by a single-
mode only.
However, some dispersion still exists.
Group velocity of fundamental mode is frequency dependent
- hence different spectral components of the pulse travel at
slightly different group velocities.

Group Velocity Dispersion (GVD)

Contribution: (i) material dispersion (ii) waveguide dispersion
Time delay for a specific spectral component at frequency 0)
arriving at output of fibre of length L is
r-L vs

where group velocity r v =[/ aBd,,)Yl

t') t
t

Since F=nko=n9
C
i;'
:.:
1
t-
I

C
-vo:-"ilr
(an\
where Group lndex nr={*t dr)
I
Mode index

Frequency dependence of v, causes pulse broadening

because different spectral components of the pulse disperse
20
during propagation and do not arrive simultaneously at the
fibre output.

lf Aro is spectral width of the pulse = pulse broadening for

fibre length L is

Lr -tm-L(l\,
da drrr[v, ) -rd'Q.,t,
dr"
ln optical fibre communications, Al. is used instead of Acrl.

If the f requency spread Aro is determined by range of

wavelengths Al, emitted by source, using @ = '+
2nc.A
A(D=- ^ Arl,
lu'"

--ry( 4f^lro^
=Lr f ld*' )
LT_DLA7,"

n Znc( dA\
D---:.,
where Dispersionparameter )( Il.dr'
-,I
)
D is expressed in Ps/km-nm

Effect of dispersion on bit rate

Using rough criterion that pulse broadening AI must be less

1

than time allocated to a bit ie. IB

2l
Require Lr <!B
BIDIL Llu <r I

- gives order of magnitude estimate of B .L product

offered by single-mode fibre.
eg. For operation near )" -L.3gtm, D - 1psfl<m.nm

For semiconductor (multimode) laser of spectral width

Al": 2- 4 nm
+BZ-100(Gb/s).km
For semiconductor (single-mode) laser of spectral width
AX <'l mmc
A'Y \ L
'U''V

* B L-l (Tb/s).km for fibre.

Behaviour of dispersion parameter D
D varies with wavelength

D--ry( ql
=- rlw)
n0)
and B= where z is the mode index

+D--4( ,L!**4\
l,'( da ,i*')
This can be decomposed into two additive terms.
I,

DM - material dispersion due to refractive index of silica

changing with optical freq. rrl
Dw - waveguide dispersion due to normalised propagation
constant b changing with optical
freq rrl
(Proportion of field in core &
cladding changes with rrl & V)
22
Material Dispersion

Occurs because refractive index of silica changes with

t
optical frequency o)
,1.49

r.48
xtd
o
7 t.qt
ld
ng
tr
$ l.+e
E,
IL
UJ
E, n
{.45

1.44
0.6 0.8 | 1.2 1.4 t.6
WAVELENGTH (pm)

Wavelength dependence of nand group index nr torfused

silica
dn-
Dun;

rt turns out that $dL =o at )" _r.276w _Ln

ie. zero material dispersion wavelength Du =0 at ?"=)"*ro

Note Dpr a0 below Lrro and Dpr )0 above l" MZD

23
Waveguide Dispersion

Occurs because propagation constant b depends on

optical frequency rrr and on the v parameter of the fibre.

It turns out that D* < 0 in the entire range 0-1 .6 pm.

Since DM > 0 for ?t>?t*rr,

it is possible to cancel the
waveguide & material dispersion at a specific l" to get total
dispersion D-Du+Dw=0
30

20

E
g
I l0
E
i<
an
CL
0
c

,7
o
'6
o,
o-
.2
-10
o
-2O

-30
1.1 1.2 1.3 t.4 1.5 1.6 1.7
Wavelength (pm)

Total dispersion D = 0 at )uro - 1.3 I Vm .

At the low-fibre-loss wavelength of l" - 1.55 Vffi ,

D - 15 - 18 ps /(lo" .nm)

This is relatively high and limits the performance of 1.55 pm

systems.

24
Dispersion-shifted Fibres
The waveguide contribution D, depends on fibre parameters
such as core radius a, index difference A. t

Hence can design fibre index profile so that L, is shifted to

1.55 pm.

n
tltt
L-
-J
Standard Fibre Disp e rsion- s hifte d F ibr e

It is also possible to tailor the waveguide contribution so that

the total dispersion is reduced over a range 1.3-1 .6 pm +
dispersion flattened fibres.
The design of dispersion modified fibres uses multiple
cladding layers & tailored refractive index profile.

E
cI

sE,
6
a-
L:I
rt
o
'-g
G}
c.
arl
r-J
-1o

1.3 , 1.4 1.5

VJavelength (pm)

25
Typical fibre characteristics

Single-mode fibre
I
Corning SMF-28 NA = 0.13
A - 0.36%
Spot size diametel = 9.3 pm
Lrn= 1.31 2 Wm

Dispersion-sh ifted fi bre

Corning SMF-DS NA = 0.17

A = 0.90%
Spot size diameter = 8.1 pm
Lzn= 1.550 Pm

26
 Chromatic Dispersion Compensation
• Chromatic dispersion is time independent in a passive optical link
allow compensation along the entire fiber span
(Note that recent developments focus on reconfigurable optical link,
which makes chromatic dispersion time dependent!)

Two basic techniques: (1) dispersion-compensating fiber DCF

(2) dispersion-compensating fiber grating

• The basic idea for DCF: the positive dispersion in a conventional

fiber (say ~ 17 ps/(km-nm) in the 1550 nm window) can be
compensated for by inserting a fiber with negative dispersion (i.e.
with large -ve Dwg).
66
Positive dispersion
transmission fiber Negative dispersion element

-D’ -D’ -D’

Accumulated dispersion (ps/nm)

+D -D’ +D -D’ +D -D’

Distance (km)
• In a dispersion-managed system, positive dispersion transmission
fiber alternates with negative dispersion compensation elements,
such that the total dispersion is zero end-to-end. 68
 Dispersion-Compensating Fiber
The concept: using a span of fiber to compress an initially chirped pulse.

Pulse broadening with chirping Pulse compression with dechirping

ls ls ll ls ll ls
ll ll

Initial chirp and broadening by a transmission link Compress the pulse to initial width

L1 L2

Dispersion compensated channel: D2 L2 = - D1 L1

70
 Conventional fiber (D > 0) DCF (D < 0)
Laser Detector
L LDCF

e.g. What DCF is needed in order to compensate for dispersion in a

conventional single-mode fiber link of 100 km?

Suppose we are using Corning SMF-28 fiber,

=> the dispersion parameter D(1550 nm) ~ 17 ps/(km-nm).

 Pulse broadening DTchrom = D(l) Dl L ~ 17 x 1 x 100 = 1700 ps.

assume the semiconductor (diode) laser linewidth Dl ~ 1 nm.

71
The DCF needed to compensate for 1700 ps with a large
negative-dispersion parameter

i.e. we need DTchrom + DTDCF = 0

DTDCF = DDCF(l) Dl LDCF

suppose typical ratio of L/LDCF ~ 6 – 7, we assume LDCF = 15 km

=>DDCF(l) ~ -113 ps/(km-nm)

*Typically, only one wavelength can be compensated exactly.

Better CD compensation requires both dispersion and dispersion
slope compensation.
72
 Disadvantages in using DCF
• Added loss associated with the increased fiber span

• Nonlinear effects may degrade the signal over the long length of the fiber
if the signal is of sufficient intensity.

• Links that use DCF often require an amplifier stage to compensate the added
loss.

-D g -D g

Splice loss Long DCF (loss, possible nonlinear effects)

75
 3. Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD)
• In a single-mode optical fiber, the optical signal is carried by the
linearly polarized “fundamental mode” LP01, which has
two polarization components that are orthogonal.

(note that x and y

are chosen arbitrarily)

• In a real fiber (i.e. ngx  ngy), the two orthogonal polarization

modes propagate at different group velocities, resulting in pulse
broadening – polarization mode dispersion. 76
 Ey Ey DT

vgy = c/ngy
Ex vgx = c/ngx  vgy Ex
t t
Single-mode fiber L km

*1. Pulse broadening due to the orthogonal polarization modes

(The time delay between the two polarization components is
characterized as the differential group delay (DGD).)

2. Polarization varies along the fiber length

77
 • The refractive index difference is known as birefringence.

B = nx - ny (~ 10-6 - 10-5 for

single-mode fibers)
assuming nx > ny => y is the fast axis, x is the slow axis.

*B varies randomly because of thermal and mechanical stresses over

time (due to randomly varying environmental factors in submarine,
terrestrial, aerial, and buried fiber cables).

=> PMD is a statistical process !

78
 Randomly varying birefringence along the fiber
y
E

Principal axes

Elliptical polarization

79
• The polarization state of light propagating in fibers with randomly
varying birefringence will generally be elliptical and would quickly
reach a state of arbitrary polarization.

*However, the final polarization state is not of concern for most

lightwave systems as photodetectors are insensitive to the state of
polarization.
(Note: recent technology developments in “Coherent Optical
Communications” do require polarization state to be analyzed.)

• A simple model of PMD divides the fiber into a large number of

segments. Both the magnitude of birefringence B and the orientation
of the principal axes remain constant in each section but changes
randomly from section to section.
80
 A simple model of PMD

B0 B1 B2 B3

Lo L1 L2 L3

Ex

Ey
t

Randomly changing differential group delay (DGD)

81
• Pulse broadening caused by a random change of fiber polarization
properties is known as polarization mode dispersion (PMD).

PMD pulse broadening DTPMD = DPMD L

DPMD is the PMD parameter (coefficient) measured in ps/km.

L models the “random” nature (like “random walk”)

* DPMD does not depend on wavelength (first order) ;

*Today’s fiber (since 90’s) PMD parameter is 0.1 - 0.5 ps/km.

(Legacy fibers deployed in the 80’s have DPMD > 0.8 ps/km.)
82
e.g. Calculate the pulse broadening caused by PMD for a singlemode
fiber with a PMD parameter DPMD ~ 0.5 ps/km and a fiber length of
100 km. (i.e. DTPMD = 5 ps)

Recall that pulse broadening due to chromatic dispersion for a 1 nm

linewidth light source was ~ 15 ps/km, which resulted in 1500 ps for
100 km of fiber length.

=> PMD pulse broadening is orders of magnitude less than

chromatic dispersion !

*PMD is relatively small compared with chromatic dispersion. But

when one operates at zero-dispersion wavelength (or dispersion
compensated wavelengths) with narrow spectral width, PMD can
become a significant component of the total dispersion.
83
 So why do we care about PMD?

Recall that chromatic dispersion can be compensated to ~ 0,

(at least for single wavelengths, namely, by designing proper
-ve waveguide dispersion)

but there is no simple way to eliminate PMD completely.

=> It is PMD that limits the fiber bandwidth after chromatic

dispersion is compensated!

84
• PMD is of lesser concern in lower data rate systems. At lower
transmission speeds (up to and including 10 Gb/s), networks have
higher tolerances to all types of dispersion, including PMD.

As data rate increases, the dispersion tolerance reduces significantly,

creating a need to control PMD as much as possible at the current
40 Gb/s system.

e.g. The pulse broadening caused by PMD for a singlemode

fiber with a PMD parameter of 0.5 ps/km and a fiber length of
100 km => 5 ps.

However, this is comparable to the 40G bit period = 25 ps !

85
 Polarizing effects of conventional / polarization-
preserving fibers

Unpol. input Unknown output

(random coupling
between all the
conventional polarizations present)

Pol. input Unknown output

Unpol. input Unknown output

polarization-
preserving

Pol. input Pol. output 86

 Polarization-preserving fibers
• The fiber birefringence is enhanced in single-mode
polarization-preserving (polarization-maintaining) fibers,
which are designed to maintain the polarization of the
launched wave.

• Polarization is preserved because the two possible

waves have significantly different propagation
characteristics. This keeps them from exchanging
energy as they propagate through the fiber.

• Polarization-preserving fibers are constructed by

designing asymmetries into the fiber. Examples include
fibers with elliptical cores (which cause waves polarized
along the major and minor axes of the ellipse to have
different effective refractive indices) and fibers that
contain nonsymmetrical stress-producing parts.
87
 Polarization-preserving fibers

Elliptical-core fiber bow-tie fiber

• The shaded region in the bow-tie fiber is highly doped with a

material such as boron. Because the thermal expansion of this
doped region is so different from that of the pure silica cladding,
a nonsymmetrical stress is exerted on the core. This produces
a large stress-induced birefringence, which in turn decouples the
two orthogonal modes of the singlemode fiber. 88
 Multimode Fiber Transmission Distances
• The possible transmission distances when using fibers
with different core sizes and bandwidths for Ethernet,
Fibre Channel, and SONET/SDH applications.

89