IFET COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

(An Autonomous Institution)

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES
Subject Code: 23PH1205 Year/ Sem : I /I
Subject Name: PHYSICS FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE
UNIT II – FIBRE OPTICS
SOLVED ANSWERS
PART – A (2 Marks)

3 How the core and cladding play an important role in an optical fiber?
The major role of the core material is to carry signals without significant loss. Necessity of
cladding is
 To provide proper light guidance inside the core.
 To avoid leakage of light from the fiber.
 To avoid mechanical strength for the fiber.
 To protect the core from scratches and other mechanical damages.

5 Do signals really travel faster in Fiber Optics?

Yes. It is very faster. All type of signals is converted into optical signal in fiber-optic
communication. The optical signals can travel at the speed of light with respect to refractive
indices of structure. So the signal transmission is very fast compared to metal based
communications.

8. Write about the significance of an acceptance angle.

Acceptance angle determines the size of the acceptance cone. It is the maximum angle of a
ray (against the fiber axis) hitting the fiber core which allows the incident light to be guided
by the core. The sine of that acceptance angle is called the numerical aperture. It is very
important parameter in fiber-optic communication.

9. If input signal fall outside the acceptance cone, what will be the communication in the fibre
Aoptics cable.
 Acceptance cone is geometrical area constructed by acceptance angle of the optical
fiber.
 If light signal fall outside the acceptance cone, there will be less or minimum chance
for the signal to fall on the core of the optical cable.
 As a result, signals not effectively enter into the cable so that the communication is
disrupted.
 Hence, it is essential for the signal which should necessarily fall inside the
acceptance cone.
12. How step index-single mode fiber used in different fields?
 Single-mode optical fiber (SMF) is an optical fiber designed to carry only a single
mode of light - the transverse mode.
 It is ideal for long-haul signal transmission applications.
 This type of fiber is used as under-sea cable.
 It finds particular application in submarine cable system.
 It is used in long distance telephone system.
15. If there is no dispersion in single mode fiber means whether it is an advantage or
disadvantage. Justify.
 No dispersion means there is no degradation of signal during propagation.
 Also signal attenuation is lowered.
 It results minimized losses in signal in fiber.
  It is advantage in communication.
16. Which mode of fiber is used for long distance communication? Give your answer.
Single mode step index fiber is the light which takes single path through the fiber core. Step
index means sharp step in the index of refraction between core and cladding interface. Step
index single mode fiber has prefer for long distance communication because
 Low attenuation due to smaller core diameter than multimode step index fiber.
 Higher bandwidth in single mode fiber and
 Very low intermodal dispersion compared to multimode step index fiber.

20. Give the requirements of a good splicing and connectors for fiber optic cable.
The following are the requirements for a good splices and connectors;
 Coupling losses should be low.
 Connectors of same type should be used.
 Connector joint should not be affected by temperature, dust and moisture.
 Attenuation should be minimum.

22. How does fiber optics transmit data and how much of data will carry?
Bandwidth measures the data-carrying capacity of an optical fiber. It is expressed as the
product of the data frequency and the distance over which data can be transmitted at that
frequency. For example, A fiber with a bandwidth of 600MHz km can transmit data at a rate
of 600 MHz for 1Km which can carry thousands of times as much data as copper-based
networks. If bandwidth of the fiber cable more means, it carry more amount of signals.

25. How do you construct a sensor using optic fiber?

A fiber-optic sensor system consists of a fiber-optic cable connected to a remote sensor, or
amplifier. The sensor emits or receives and converts the signal into an electrical signal. It is
converted into optical signal. The cable transports the light into receiver which reproduces
the original signal. There are two types of sensors can be fabricated using fiber-optic cable.
They are Active sensor and Passive sensor.

26. Whether the information source signal is either analog or digital? Give an example for an
information signal.
 An information source signal may be an audio, video, vibrations, heat etc.
 They are continuous in frequency and amplitude.
 So they are analog in their characteristics.
 Eg. Audio, Video etc.
 In some cases , it is digitized as a part of communication process.
30. Give the advantages of the fiber optical communication system in endoscopy based
treatments.
In medicine, optical fibers enable physicians to work inside the body through tiny
incisions without having to perform surgery. They are used for endoscopes instruments for
viewing the interior of hollow organs in the body. Body temperatures can be measured using
optical fiber. They can also be used for insertion into blood vessels to give a quick, accurate
analysis of blood chemistry. It is also used to remove kidney stones without surgery.
 PART-B

5. (i) Discuss about different types of sensor available based on fiber cable and specifically explain
theworking of displacement sensor using fiber cable? (8)

It is a sensor which is used to sense and measure the displacement of an object.

Principle (2 marks)
Light is sent through a transmitting fiber and is made to fall on a moving target. The reflected light from
the target is sensed by a detector. With respect to intensity of light reflected from it the displacement of the
target is measured.
Construction (3 marks)
It consists of a bundle of transmitting fibers connected to a laser source and a bundle of receiving fibers
connected to detector.

Displacement Sensor
Working (3 marks)
First the light from the laser source is transmitted through transmitting fiber and it falls on the moving
target. The reflected beam from the target is made to pass through the receiving fiber and this light is
detected by the detector. Intensity of the light received back depends on the displacement of the target. If the
received intensity increases, it denotes that the target is moving towards the sensor. If the intensity of light
received decreases, it denotes that the target is moving away from the sensor. Thus, the displacement of the
target is measured from the intensity of the light received.

5 (ii) If fiber-optic cable is accidently broken means how do you rectify it? (8)
Optical fiber connectors are used to join optical fibers if it accidentially broken.
Connectors (2 marks)
The connectors mechanically couple and align the cores of fibers so that light can pass. Most optical
fiber connectors are spring-loaded, so the fiber faces are pressed together when the connectors are mated.
The resulting glass-to-glass or plastic-to-plastic contact eliminates signal losses at the gap between the
joined fibers. There are different types of connectors are available and they are discussed below.
Butt joined connector (3 marks)
Butt joined connectors are the most widely used connector type. It is made up of a special type of
material called ferrule, composing of metal/glass/plastic materials. The fiber is send into the drilled hole of
the ferrules and aligned properly with the help of the alignment sleeve. The distance between the fiber s is
minimized by adjusting the alignment sleeve and the guide ring. It matches the ends of the fibers. Once the
matching was done, the light from one fiber can be easily coupled to the other fiber with minimum losses.
 Butt joint connectors

Expanded beam connector (3 marks)

It consists of a collimating lens at the end of transmitting fiber and focussing lens at entrance of the
receiving fiber. The fiber to lens distance is equal to the focal length of the lens. Light coming out from the
transmitting fiber is made to fall over the collimating lens. The collimating lens makes the beam parallel and
is focussed into the focussing lens. After passing through the focussing lens, the light is coupled into the
receiving fiber without any loss. Thus the loss is minimised.

Expanded beam connectors

7. (ii) Describe the method of sensing the temperature using fiber-optical cable. (6)
Principle (1 mark)

It is based on the principle of interference between the beams emerging out from the reference fiber
and the fiber kept in the measuring environment.

Instrumentation (1 mark)

 It consists of a LASER source to emit light.

 A beam splitter (glass plate) is inclined at an angle 45 0 with respect to the direction of the laser beam.
There are two fibers cables viz.,

 Reference fiber which is isolated from the environment

 Test fiber kept in the environment where temperature to be sensed.

 Separate lens systems are provided to split and collect the beam.

Working (2 marks)
A monochromatic source of light is emitted from the laser source. The beam splitter divides the the
laser beam into two beams (i) main beam and (ii) splitted beam. Two beams are at right angles to each other.
The main beam (1) passes through the lens L1 and is focused onto the reference fiber (which is isolated from
the environment to be sensed /tested). This beam (1) after passing through the reference fiber, it falls on the
Lens L2 . The splitted beam (2) passes through the Lens L 3 and is focused onto the test fiber kept in the test
environment (temperature measuring area). After passing through the test fiber, it falls on lens L 2 . These two
beams, after passing through the fibers, join together and produces interference pattern. Path difference
between two beams is produced due to change in temperature/pressure etc. in the environment. This
Interference pattern is depends upon the path difference between two beams. Thus the change in temperature
or pressure can be accurately measured with the help of the interference pattern.

Diagram (2 marks)

Temperature sensor

8. Describe the construction and working of a medical endoscope ad give its applications in medical
field. (12)

Introduction (2 marks)
Optical fibers are very much useful in medical field. A medical endoscope is a tubular optical
instrument used to inspect or view the internal parts of human body which are not visible to the naked eye.
The photograph of the internal parts can also take using this endoscope.
Diagram (3 marks)

Endoscope
Construction (2 marks)
It consists of two fibers such as outer fiber and inner fiber. The outer fiber consist of many fibers bundled
together without any particular order of arrangement and is called incoherent bundle. These fiber bundle as a
whole is enclosed in a thin plastic sleeve for protection. This outer fiber is used to illuminate and focus the
light onto the inner parts of the body. The inner fiber also consists of a bundle of fibers, but in a perfect
order. Therefore this arrangement is called coherent bundle. This fiber is used to collect the reflected light
from the object. A tiny lens is fixed to one end of the bundle to focus the light and to recive reflected from
the object.
Working (3 marks)
Light from the source is passed through the outer fiber. The light is illuminated on the internal part
of the body. The reflected light from the object is brought to focus using telescope system to the inner fiber.
Each fiber picks up a part of the picture from the body. Hence the picture will be collected bit by bit and is
transmitted in an order by the array of fibers. The whole picture is reproduced at the other end of the
receiving fiber. The output is properly amplified and can be viewed through the eye piece at the receiving
end.The cross sectional view of the fiber having two more channels namely Instrumental channel and
Irrigation channel.
Instrument channel is used to insert or take or carry the surgical instruments needed for operation.
Irrigation channel is used to blow air to sent some liquids for example, glucose, water etc. This is also used
to clear the blood in the operation region, so the affected parts of the body can be clearly viewed.

Medicinal Applications (2 marks)

It is used in following treatments

 The gastrointestinal tract

 The respiratory tract
 The urinary tract (cystoscopy)
 The female reproductive system (gynoscopy)
 Orthopedic surgery
 Endodontic surgery