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R.M.D ENGINEERING COLLEGE, KAVARAIPETTAI.

Unit- III FIBRE OPTICS AND APPLICATIONS

Part-A Question and Answers (Two Marks)

1. What is Fibre optics?


The branch of physics which deals about the transmission and reception of light
waves in optical fibers by the principle of total internal reflection.

2. What is the principle of fibre optical communication?


Total internal reflection is the principle of fibre optical communication.
Principle: when light travels from a denser to a rarer medium, at a particular
angle of incidence called critical angle, the ray emerges along the surface of
separation. when the angle of incidence exceeds the critical angle, the incident
ray is reflected in the same medium and this phenomenon is called total internal
reflection.

3. What are the conditions to be satisfied for total internal reflection?


The refractive index n1 of the core must always be greater than the refractive
index n2 of the cladding. i.e., n1 > n2 . The light must approach the walls of the
fibre with an angle of incidence that is greater than the critical angle .
i. e., > .

4. Define Acceptance angle.


The maximum angle made by a light ray with the fibre axis on the surface of the
fibre below which the light is totally internally reflected is called acceptance
angle. (θ A)

5. Define Acceptance cone


The imaginary cone within which the light rays enter the optical fiber and totally
internally reflected is called acceptance cone.

6. Define: Numerical aperture of a fibre.


It can be defined as the sine of the acceptance angle of the fibre. It describes the
light gathering capacity of the fibre.

7. How will you classify optical fibres?


Optical fibres are classified into 3 types based on
(i) Based on material.
(a) Glass fiber (b) Plastic fibre
(ii) Based on mode of propagation
(a) Single mode fibre (b) multimode fibre
(iii) Based on refractive index profile (or) variation in the refractive index.
(a) Step – index fibre (b) Graded – index fibre

8. What are optical fibers?


Optical fibers are made of transparent dielectric materials which act as
waveguides for optical signals in fibre optical communication.

9. What is a single mode fibre?


If only one mode is transmitted through optical fibres, then it is said to be a single
mode fibre.

10. What is a multimode fibre?


If more than one mode is transmitted through optical fibres, then it is said to be
a multimode fibre.

11. Differentiate single mode and multimode fibre.


Sl.
Single mode fibre Multimode fibre
No.
Multimode fibre allows a large
In single mode fibre only one number of paths or modes for the
1
mode can propagate through it. light rays travelling through it
simultaneously.
The single mode fibre has smaller Generally in multimode fibre the
core diameter 2 to 10 and the core diameter 50 to 200 and
2 difference between the refractive the relative refractive index
indices of the core and the difference are larger than the
cladding is very small. single mode fibre.
In practice there is no dispersion
There is signal degradation due to
(i.e., no degradation of signal
3 multimode dispersion and material
during travelling through the
dispersion.
fibre)
Launching the light into single Launching the light into fibres and
4 mode fibres and joining the two joining of two fibres are easy in
are very difficult. these fibres.
Since the information transmission
capacity in optical fibre is Due to large dispersion and
inversely proportional to attenuation of the signal the
5
dispersion, the single mode fibres multimode fibres are less suitable
are more suitable for long for long distance communication.
distance communication.
Fabrication is very difficult and so Fabrication is less difficult and the
6
the fibre is expensive. fibres is not costly.
Laser diode can only be used for LEDs and Laser diode can be used
7
launching light into the fibre. for launching light into the fibre.

12. Differentiate step index and graded index fibre.


Sl.
Step index fibres Graded index fibres
No.
1 The refractive index of the core is The refractive index of the core is
made to vary in the parabolic
uniform throughout and undergoes
manner such that the maximum
step change at the cladding
refractive index is present at the
boundary.
centre of the core.
The diameter of the core is about
50 to 200 in the case of The diameter of core is about 50
2
multimode fibre and 10 in in the case of multimode fibre.
the case of single mode fibre.
3 It has low bandwidth It has high bandwidth.
Attenuation is more for
multimode step index fibre but
4 Attenuation is less
for the single mode step index
fibre it is very less.
Numerical aperture is more for
multimode step index fibre but
5 Numerical aperture is less
for the single mode step index
fibre it is very less.

11. What is meant by fractional index change?


The fractional index change ∆ is the ratio of refractive index difference between
core and cladding to the refractive index of core. It is expressed as,

This parameter is always positive because n1 must be large than n2 for the total
internal reflection.

12. Give any three applications of optical fibre in industries.


 The fibres are used as a sensor in the measurements of pressure,
temperature and displacement of an object.
 It is used as a link between sensor and monitoring station.
 The endoscope is used to inspect and view the inner structure of the
complicated machine parts, nozzles and combustion chambers inside the jet
aircraft engine.

13. State some of the applications of optical fibres in engineering field.


 It can be used for long distance communication in trunk lines.
 A large number of telephone signals nearly 15,000 can be passed through
the optical fibres in a particular time without any interference.
 It used in computer networks, especially in LAN.
 it is also used as optical sensor.

14.What is meant by splicing?


To carry information through light for a longer distance, one fibre is to be
connected with the other, so that the losses can be minimised.

The process of joining two fibres permanently with the help of an elastomer or
four rod splice using an adhesive or index matching gel is called splicing.

15.What is meant by attenuation?


The power of the light at the output end is found to be always less than
that at the input end. The optical power loss is measured in terms of decibels per
kilometer for attenuation losses. It is a logarithmic unit. It is calculated through
the formula :

- 10 æPout ö
dB = ç ÷
log ç ÷
÷
L ç
èPin ø÷
Where, Pout is the power coming out of the fibre.
Pin is the power launched into the fibre.
L is the length of the fibre tested.

16. What are the basic attenuation mechanisms that affect the performance of the
fiber optical communication system?

Attenuation plays a major role in determining the transmission distance. Some of


the attenuation mechanisms like absorption loss, scattering loss, bending loss are
to be considered while designing optical fibres.

17.What is meant by dispersion?


The spreading or broadening of the optical signal during transmission through the
fibre is called dispersion. The output pulse is wider than the input pulse. Thus the
output pulse is said to be distorted due to the dispersion of light.
The two types of dispersion are
1. Intermodal dispersion.
and 2. Intramodal or Chromatic dispersion.

18.Mention the major parts of fibre optic communication system.


The important parts of fibre optic communication system are.
(a) Transmitter, (b) Fibre optic cable and , (c) Receiver.

19.What is a fibre optic sensor?


Fibre optic sensor is a transducer which can convert various input variables
(Physical quantity) into an electrical signal in a measurable form.

20.Mention any two fibre optic soures?


 LEDs
 Semi conductor diode lasers.

21. What are the active and passive sensors?


Intrinsic / Active sensors :
The physical parameters like pressure or temperature directly acts on the light
carrying fibre itself. It produces changes in the transmission properties of light.
This type of sensor is called as Active sensor.
Eg : Temperature / Pressure sensor.
Intensity modulated sensor.
Phase modulated sensor, wavelength modulated sensor,
Polarisation modulated sensor.
Extrinsic / Passive sensors :
In extrinsic / passive sensors, separate sensing element is used, and fibre will act
as a guiding media to the sensors.
Eg : Fluoroptic temperature sensor, current measurement sensor, laser Doppler
velocimeter sensor, displacement sensor.

22.What are the advantages of the fibre optic communication system over the
conventional system?
 The fibre optic communication system are light in weight and small in size.
 There is no possibility of internal noise and cross talk generation.
 No hazards of short circuits in metal wires.
 Immunity to adverse temperature and moisture.
 Since fibre is made up of glass, the raw material of the glass is silica which
is available in plenty in the earth.

23.What are the losses that occur during optical fibre communication?
 During the transmission of light through the optical fiber, two major losses
will occur, viz ., attenuation and dispersion.
 Attenuation is mainly caused due to the absorption, scattering of light
inside the fibres and bending of fibers.
 Dispersion occurs due to spreading of light and also due manufacturing
defects.

24. What is the basic principle of fibre optic sensor?


A fibre optic sensor in general, consists of a light source. The light source is
coupled to an optical fibre. A light detector which receives the signal – carrying
light beam as it emerges from the fibre. The signal from detector is processed
electrically for getting the desired output.

25.How fibers are used as a sensor?


The fibre optic sensors are used to detect changes in frequency, intensity,
temperature, current, polarization of the light waves etc. A fibre optic sensor
modulates the light passing through it, when it is exposed to change in
environment.

26.Why optical fibres are called as waveguides?


A wave guide is tubular structure through which same sort of energy could be
guided in the form waves. Since light waves can be guided through a fibre, it is
called light guide. it is also known as fibre wave guide.

27.What is Photo detector?


Photo detector is a device used to detect the light falling over it. It converts the
light energy into electrical energy under reverse bias voltage.

28.What is meant by LED? Give its principle?


A LED is an abbreviation of Light Emitting Diode. It is a Semiconductor p-n junction
diode which converts electrical energy to light energy under forward biasing. LEDs
emit incoherent photons through spontaneous emission process.
29. List out the four main types of photo detectors.
 Photoconductors
 Photodiodes
 PIN diodes and
 Avalanche photodiode.

30.What is meant by endoscope?


A medical endoscope is a tubular optical instrument. It is used to view / inspect /
photograph the internal parts of human body which are not visible to the naked
eye. Short length, large diameter silica fibres are used to design the endoscope.

31.What are Glass fibres?


Glass fibres are made up of a mixture of metal oxides with silica glass. They
exhibit low losses and are used for long distance communication.

32. What are Plastic fibres?


Plastic fibres are made up of plastics. These low cost fibres are flexible,
durable and tough, thus they can be handled without any care.

33. Classify the fibres based on the refractive index profile.


Based on the refractive index profile, there are two types of optical fibres:
1. Step index fibre and
2. Graded index fibre
Step index fibre can further be divided into single mode step index fibre and
multi mode step index fibre.

34. What are the advantages of multi mode fibres?


The advantages of multi mode fibres are:
1. It is relatively easy to work with.
2. Light coupling can be done easily with less loss due to large core diameter.
3. LEDs and Lasers can be used as sources.

35. What are the basic requirements of light sources used in fiber optic
communication system?
The basic requirements of light sources used in fiber optic communication
system are:
1. Monochromaticity
2. Narrow band width
3. Capable of being easily modulated.
4. Enough intensity
5. Durable, inexpensive, compact and small.

36. What in meant by injection luminescence?


When the majority carriers are injected from p to n and n to p region, they
become excess minority carriers. Then they diffuse away from the junction and
recombines with the majority carriers in p and n regions and emit light. This
phenomenon is known as injection luminescence.
37.What is Dispersion?
The optical signals travel with different velocities along the fibre, then they
reach the other end of the fibre at different times. Due to this, spreading or
broadening of optical signals, overlapping of data occurs. This type of loss in optical
fibres is called as Dispersion.

38.How LED can be converted into Laser diode?


In a semi conductor diode, if the emission is not stimulated, the device is called
light emitting diode (LED). To convert LED to laser diode, high current density is
required to achieve population inversion and the opposite surfaces should be
polished.

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