UNIT-II

LASERS

Lasers: Characteristics of lasers – Einstein’s coefficients – Amplification of light by population inversion – Ruby
laser – He-Ne laser – Semiconductor laser – Applications of lasers in engineering and medicine.

Fiber Optics: Introduction – Construction – Principle – Propagation of light through an optical fiber – Numerical
aperture and acceptance angle – Step-index and graded-index fibers – Pulse dispersion – Fiber losses – Fiber optic
communication system – Applications.

Introduction:
The word laser stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
It is a device that amplifies light and produces a highly directional, high-intensity beam that most
often has a very pure frequency.
Characteristics of laser:
The important characteristics of laser are

1. High directionality
2. High degree of monochromaticity
3. High degree of coherence
4. High intensity

1. High directionality:
The conventional light sources emit light in all directions due to spontaneous emission. Laser
other hand emit light in one direction due to stimulated emission. The directionality of laser
beam is expressed in terms of divergence.

In case of laser, the active medium is in a cylindrical cavity which is placed in between two
reflecting resonator mirrors. Stimulated photons travel back and forth between two mirrors many
times and amplify each time. Thus the beam drawn from the output mirrors is highly parallel and
directional.
The degree of directionality is expressed in terms of divergence.

The divergence tells how rapidly the beam spreads when it is emitted form the laser.
At d1 and d 2 distances from the laser window, if the diameters of spot are measured to be

a1 and a2 . Then the angle of divergence is

a2  a1

d 2  d1

2. High monochromaticity:

Monochromatic light means a light containing a single color or wavelength. The photons emitted
from ordinary light sources have different energies, frequencies, wavelengths, or colors. Hence,
the light waves of ordinary light sources have many wavelengths or colors. Therefore, ordinary
light is a mixture of waves having different frequencies or wavelengths. On the other hand, in
laser, all the emitted photons have the same energy, frequency, or wavelength. Hence, the light
waves of laser have single wavelength or color. Therefore, laser light covers a very narrow range
of frequencies or wavelengths.

Due to stimulated emission, the light emitted by laser is more monochromatic than that of any
congenital monochromatic source.
In laser radiation, all the photons emitted between discrete energy levels will have same
wavelength.
As a result the radiation is monochromatic in nature.
 Due to the stimulated characteristic of laser light, the laser light is more monochromatic than
that of a convectional light.
laser radiation -the wavelength spread = 0.001 nm
So it is clear that the laser radiation is highly monochromatic
But for a conventional monochromatic source, the degree of non-monochromaticity is 105 .
Therefore the monochromatic source is poorer than the laser source.

3. High degree of coherence:

In ordinary light sources (lamp, sodium lamp and torch light), the electron transition
occurs naturally. In other words, electron transition in ordinary light sources is random in time.
The photons emitted from ordinary light sources have different energies, frequencies,
wavelengths, or colors. Hence, the light waves of ordinary light sources have many wavelengths.
Therefore, photons emitted by an ordinary light source are out of phase.

Coherence is related to phenomenon of interference. Interference is observed only with coherent

sources. The property of exciting either zero (or) constant phase difference between two (or)
more waves is known s coherence. The laser beam is temporally and spatially coherent to an
extraordinary degree. Temporal coherence is referred to longitudinal coherence while the spatial
coherence is called lateral coherence.
Spatial coherence:-
Spatial coherence also referred to as transverse coherence describes how far apart two sources
(or) two portions of the same source can be located in a direction transverse to the direction of
observation and still exhibit coherent properties. This is some times also referred to as the lateral
coherence
 Assume two source are separated by a distance ‘s’ in
the transverse direction to the direction of observation
and are at a distance ‘r’ from the point of observation. If
the two sources exhibit interference effects at a point ‘a’
and ‘b’. Then the transverse coherence length lt is the
transverse distance from point ‘a’ to point ‘b’ where
r
lt 
s
Temporal coherence:
The case of temporal coherence refers to the relative phase (or) coherence of the two waves at
two separated locations along the propagation direction of two beams. It is some times referred
as longitudinal coherence.
If we assume that the two waves are exactly in phase at first location then they will still be at
least partially in phase at second location up to a distance lc , where lc referred to coherence
length
2
lc 

Where  difference in wave length between two waves and  is their average wave length.
4. High intensity:
The laser beam is highly intense as compared to ordinary source of light. That is why it can be
used for such operations as welding of metals which involve high temperature.
You know that the intensity of a wave is the energy per unit time flowing through a unit normal
area. In an ordinary light source, the light spreads out uniformly in all directions. If you look at a
100 Watt lamp filament from a distance of 30 cm, the power entering your eye is less than
1/1000 of a watt. In laser, the light spreads in small region of space and in a small wavelength
range. Hence, laser light has greater intensity when compared to the ordinary light. If you look
directly along the beam from a laser (caution: don’t do it), then all the power in the laser would
enter your eye. Thus, even a 1 Watt laser would appear many thousand times more intense than
100 Watt ordinary lamp.
Pumping:
The population inversion cannot be achieved thermally. To achieve population inversion suitable
form of energy must be supplied. The process of supplying suitable form of energy to a system to
achieve population inversion is called pumping.
Most commonly used pumping methods are
1. Optical pumping
2. Electric discharge
3. Inelastic atom-atom collision
4. Direct conversion
5. Chemical reaction
1. Optical pumping:
In optical pumping a light source is used to supply luminous energy. Most often this
energy comes in the form of short flashes of light. This method was first used by maiman in his
ruby laser.
2. Electric discharge method:-
In this method the atoms are excited by collision with fast electrons in an electric
discharge. This method is preferred in gaseous ion laser. In this method electrons emitted by the
cathode to be accelerated towards the anode. Some of these electrons will collide with the atom
of the active medium, ionize the medium and raise it to the higher level.
3. Inelastic atom- atom collision:-
This method is used in gas lasers consisting of two species of atoms. Pumping by
electrical discharge raises one type atoms to their excited states. These atoms collide inelastically
with another type of atoms. It is these latter atoms that provide the population inversion need for
the laser emission. An example for this is the helium-neon laser.
4. Direct conversion:-
This method is used in semiconductor p-n junction lasers. In this laser electrons and holes
are made to combine across the depletion region by applying a forward bias. Electrons and holes
recombine to emit radiation. Thus direct conversion of electrical energy into radiation occurs in
semiconductor laser and in LED’s.
5. Chemical reactions:
In this method the energy comes from a chemical reaction without any need for other
source. Hydrogen can react with fluorine to produce hydrogen fluoride according to the reaction
H 2  F2  2HF  heat

This reaction generates enough heat to pump a Co2 laser.

Interaction of radiation with matter:

i)Stimulated Absorption:
Let us consider two energy levels with energies E1 and E2 , where E1 ground state is and E2 is

excited state. Usually atoms are present in ground state E1 . When a photon of energy h is

incident on the atom lying in ground state then it excites to higher state E2 . This phenomenon is
known as “absorption”.

ii)Spontaneous emission:
Let us consider two energy levels with energies E1 and E2 , where E1 ground state is and E2 is

excited state. Usually atoms are present in ground state E1 .let us assume that the atom is in the

excited state E2 .after life time the atom de-excites to its ground state spontaneously emitting

photon of energy h . This phenomenon is known as “spontaneous emission”.

iii)Stimulated emission:-
We know that average life time of an atom in the excited state is 108 s. During this short
interval let a photon of energy h is incident on the atom which is in the excited will return to
the ground state with in the life time by emitting two photons. This phenomenon is known as
“stimulated emission”.

The direction of propagation, phase and energy emitted photon is exactly same as that of incident
stimulating photon.

Einstein’s coefficients:
Stimulated Absorption:
Let us consider two energy levels 1 and 2 . The probable rate of transition from 1  2 depends
upon properties of states 1 and 2 and it is proportional to energy density u ( ) of radiation of
frequency  .

Energy density u ( ) is defined as the radiant energy per unit volume in the frequency interval 
and   d .

The probable rate of occurrence of absorption

P12  u( )

P12  B12u ( ) ------------------------------ (1)

Where B12 is called “Einstein’s coefficient of absorption”.

Spontaneous emission:
In spontaneous emission the probable rate of transition from 2  1 is depends upon properties of
states 1 and 2 and it is independent of the energy density.
 P21 spon  A21 ------------------------------ (2)

Stimulated emission:
In stimulated emission the probable rate of transition from 2  1 is depends upon properties of
states 1 and 2 and and it is proportional to energy density u ( ) of the stimulating radiation and is
given by
( P21 )stimu  u( )

( P21 ) stimu  B12u ( ) ------------------------------ (3)

The total probability for an atom in state 2 to state 1 is therefore

P12  A12  B12u ( ) ---------------------------- (4)

Relation between different Einstein’s coefficients:

Let us consider an assembly of atoms in thermal equilibrium at temperature T with radiation of
frequency  and   d and energy density u ( ) . Let N1 and N 2 be the number of atoms in
lower energy state 1 and higher energy state 2 respectively.
The number of atoms in state 1 that absorb a photon and rise to state 2 per unit time is given by
N1P12  N1B12u ( ) --------------------------------- (5)
The number of atoms in state 2 to state 1, either by spontaneous emission or by stimulated
emission is given by

N1P21  N2  A21  B21u( ) --------------------------------- (6)

Under the condition equilibrium, the number of atoms absorbing radiation per unit time is equal
to the number of atoms emitting radiation per unit time. Hence

N1P12  N1P21

N1B12u( )  N2  A21  B21u( )

N1B12u( )  N2 B21u( )  N2 A21

[ N1B12  N2 B21 ]u( )  N2 A21

N 2 A21
u ( ) 
N1 B12  N 2 B21
N 2 A21
u ( ) 
N B 
N 2 B21  1 12  1
 N 2 B21 
A21 1
u ( )  ---------------------------------- (7)
B21  N1 B12 
 N B  1
 2 21 
According to Boltzmann distribution law, the ratio of N1 and N 2 is given by

 E 
N 0 exp   1 
N1
  k BT 
N2  E 
N 0 exp   2 
 k BT 

N1  E  E1 
 exp  2 
N2  kBT 

N1  h 
 exp   ------------------------------------ (8)
N2  kBT 
Substitute equation (8) in equation (7), we get

A21 1
u ( )  ------------------------------- (9)
B21   h  B21 
exp    1
  k BT  B21 
According to plank’s radiation law
8 h 3 1
u ( )  ----------------------------------- (10)
c 3
  h  
exp    1
  kBT  
Comparing eq (9) and eq(10), we get
A21 8 h 3

B21 c3
--------------------------------------------- (11)
B21
1
B21

Equation (11) shows the relation between Einstein’s coefficients B12 , B21 and A21 .this shows that
the ratio of Einstein’s coefficient of spontaneous emission to Einstein’s coefficient of absorption
is proportional to the cube of frequency.
The second relation shows the rate of probability of induced emission and absorption are equal,
when the system is equilibrium.

Population inversion:
Let us consider two level energy system of energies E1 and E2 as shown in figure. Let

N1 and N2 be the populations of energy levels E1 and E2. The number of atoms present in an
energy level is known as population of that energy level. At ordinary conditions, i.e., the
population in the ground or lower state is always greater than the population in the excited or
higher states. The stage of making, population of higher energy level is greater than the
population of lower energy level is called population inversion.
According to Boltzmann’s distribution the population of an energy level 𝐸𝑖 at temperature T is
given by
𝑵𝒊 = 𝑵𝟎𝒆 ( E / 𝑲𝑻)
Where 𝑁0 𝑖𝑠 the population of the lower level or ground state and k is is the Boltzmann’s
constant.
The number of atoms present in the excited state (N2) is greater than the number of atoms
present in the ground state (N1) is called population inversion

Main components of laser:-

The main components of laser are
1. Active medium
2. Energy source
3. Optical resonator
1. Active medium:-
It is medium in which metastable state is present. In metastable state only the population
inversion takes place. It can be a solid, liquid, gas or semiconductor junction.
2. Energy source:-
It supplies suitable form of energy to the active medium to achieve population inversion. It
performs pumping process.
3. Optical resonator:-
It is an enclosure of the active medium and essentially consists of two mirrors facing each other.
One mirror is fully reflective and other one is partially reflective. The function of resonator is to
increase the intensity of laser beam.

Types of lasers:-
On the basis of active medium used
systems, lasers are classified into several
types and most popular methods are
1. Solid-state laser (Ruby laser)
2. Liquid laser (Europium laser)
3. Gaseous laser (He-Ne laser)
4. Semiconductor laser (GaAs laser)
1. Ruby laser:-
Ruby laser is a solid state three-level laser system developed by Maimen in 1960.
It produces pulsed laser which is useful for various industrial applications like surface hardening,
hard facing cladding of various industrial products.

It is a high power laser which has hundreds of MW. Each pulse will come out in duration of 10
nano seconds. The main components of ruby laser are

Source of energy: - xenon flash lamp

Active medium: - ruby crystal rod

Optical cavity: - arrangement of silver polished surface on either sides of the ruby rod.

Construction:-
The schematic diagram of ruby laser is is shown in fig.

Ruby is taken in the form of a cylindrical rod of about 4 cm length and 1 cm in diameter. Ruby
crystal is basically Al2O3 crystal containing about 0.05% of chromium atoms. The

3
Al 3 ions in the crystal lattice are replaced Cr ions will play main role in the emission of laser
beam.

The two ends of a ruby crystal are grounded and polished and one face is silvered to achieve
100% reflection while the opposite face is partially silvered to make it semitransparent. A xenon
flash tube is arranged around the ruby rod. Which supplies green colour flash light of wave
length 5600A0 to active medium to active population inversion. Only a part of flash light is used
for the pumping the Cr 3 , while the rest heats up the apparatus. A cooling arrangement is
provided to keep the experiment setup at normal temperature.
Working principle:-
1. The energy level of Cr 3 ions in the crystal lattice is shown in fig. they form basically a
three level system.
2. The xenon flash lamp generates an intense white light lasting for a few milliseconds. The
green component of the light having wavelength 5600A0 is absorbed by Cr 3 ions raising
them from the ground state E1 to the excited state E3 . The excited levels are highly
unstable.

3. The Cr 3 ions rapidly lose part of their energy  E2  E3  to the crystal lattice and

undergo non-radiative transition to the E2 is metastable state. Therefore Cr 3 ions

accumulate there.
4. If pumping occurs at a faster rate the population at the level E2 exceeds that of the

ground level E1 in a short time. The state of population inversion gets established

between E2 and E1 level.

5. A spontaneous photon emitted by a Cr 3 ion at E2 level initiates the stimulated emission

by the other Cr 3 ions in the metastable state.

6. Photons traveling along the axial direction are repeatedly reflected and amplified, and
emerge out of the semi-transparent mirror in the form of a strong laser beam.
7. The beam is red in colour and corresponds to a wavelength of 6943A0 and
frequency 4.32 1014 Hz .
He-Ne laser:
The main drawback of ruby laser is that the output beam is not continuous through very intense.
The laser is very highly directional, monochromatic, coherent and stable. But the output power is
moderate when it is compared with solid state laser. It is very useful in making holograms and
interferometric experiments.
Source of energy: - R.F oscillator
Active medium: - helium-neon gas mixture
Optical cavity: - arrangement of fully and partially reflective mirrors on either sides of quartz
tube.
Construction:
The gas laser consists of a fused quartz tube with diameter about 1.5 cm and 80 cm long. In this
laser active medium is a mixture of ten parts of helium to one part of neon. The neon atoms
provide the energy level for laser transition. Through helium atoms are not directly involved in
the laser transition, they provide an efficient excitation mechanism for neon atoms. In He-Ne gas
laser electric discharge method is used for pumping process.

Working:
When an electric discharge is posses the He-Ne gas mixture, helium atoms are excited to higher
levels He2 and He3 through collisions with accelerated electrons.

In this neon atom contain six energy levels Ne1 , Ne2 , Ne3 , Ne4 , Ne5 and Ne6 . Here it should be

noted that Ne4 and He2 have same energy and life time and similarly Ne6 and He3 .

The states He2 and He3 are metastable states from which there are no allowed transitions. The
excited helium atoms then collide inelastically with neon atoms still in ground state and transfer
energy to them. This interaction excites the neon atoms to their metastable states Ne6 and Ne4 .

After collision, the helium atoms are returned to ground state He1 .

A population inversion is thus created between Ne6 and ( Ne5 , Ne3 ) group and also between Ne4

and Ne3 . There are three possible transitions in between Ne6 , Ne5 , Ne4 and Ne3 .

1. Ne6  Ne3 Transition: - This transition generates a laser beam of red colour of wave

length 6328A0 .
2. Ne6  Ne5 Transition: - during this transition electromagnetic radiation of wave

length 3390A0 .
3. Ne4  Ne3 Transition: - during this transition an electromagnetic radiation of 1150A0 is
emitted.
Where as 3390A0 and 1150A0 transitions are in infrared region where as 6328A0 transition is in
visible region. Thus build up of 1150A0 and 3390A0 transitions reduce 6328A0 transition. To
overcome this problem in order to get only 6328A0 output, the laser tube windows are made up
of glass (or) quartz. That absorb strongly 1150A0 and 3390A0 .
When an excited neon atom passes from metastable state Ne6  Ne3 it emits photon. This
photon travels through the gas mixture. If the photon is moving parallel to the axis of tube, it
reflects back and forth by mirror ends until it stimulates an excited neon atom by emitting photon
with same phase and direction.

The stimulated transition is a laser transition. This process continues till a beam of coherent
radiation build up in the tube. When the beam becomes sufficiently intense it escapes through the
partially silvered end.

Semiconductor laser:
Semiconductor lasers are unique when compared to other types of lasers. They are very small,
they operate with relatively low power input, and they are very efficient. They also operate in a
different way in that they require the merging of two different materials and the laser action
occurs in the interface between those two materials. One of the materials has an excess of
electrons (n-type) and the other material (p-type) has excess of holes. When forward bias voltage
is placed across this junction electrons are forced into the region from the n-type material and
holes are forced into junction from the p-type material. These electrons with a negative charge
and the holes with a positive charge are attracted to each other, and when they collide they
neutralize each other and in the process emit radiation this process is known as recombination.
On the basis of recombination processes, semiconductors are classified into two categories

 Direct band gap semiconductors are those in which conduction electrons recombine direct
with holes

 Indirect band gap semiconductors are those in which conduction electrons recombine with
holes via intermediate energy levels

There is large possibility to emit electromagnetic radiation during the direct recombination
process, but not in case of indirect recombination. Therefore direct band gap semiconductors are
useful to construct semiconductors laser.

Semiconductor lasers are classified into two types, they are

1. Homo-junction diode laser system

2. Hetero-junction diode laser system
A homo-junction laser is formed between n-type and p-type semiconductor of same materials
where as hetro-junction is formed between n-type and p-type semiconductors of different
materials.

Construction of homo-junction GaAs diode laser:

In this laser system, the active medium is pn-junction diode formed between n-GaAs and p-
GaAs. The impurities germanium and tellurium are dopped into GaAs semiconductor to obtain
p- type GaAs and n-type GaAs respectively. The thickness of the pn-junction layer is very
narrow so that the emitted laser radiation has large divergence and poor coherence. At the
junction two sides which are parallel to
each other are well polished through which
laser is emitted. And the other sides are
roughened to avoid laser emission.
To provide forward bias two metal
contacts are provided in the top and
bottom of the diode.

Construction of hetero-junction diode laser:

Hetero-junction means that the material on one
side of the junction differs from that on the
other side of the junction. A layer of GaAs is
sandwiched between two layers of GaAlAs
that has a wider energy gap than and also
lower refractive index. Fig shows a double
hetero structure strip laser diode in which the
numbers 1,2,3,4 and 5 are indicating the
various layers. The laser emission takes place between the layers 2 and 4. Where 1, 2 and 4 are
GaAlAs layers and 3, 5 are GaAs layers.
Working principle:
The working principle is same for the homo and hetero junction diode laser systems. The
population inversion can be obtained by injecting electrons and holes into the junction from the
n-region and p-region respectively by means of forward bias voltage. When forward bias is not
connected then energy diagram will be shown in fig. i.e. no electrons and holes present in the
depletion region.

When a small forward bias is given to the pn-junction then small number of electrons and holes
will be injected into the depletion region from respective region.

When a relatively large current is passed through the junction then large number of electrons and
holes will be injected into depletion region and direct recombination process takes place. Further
the emitted photon increase the rate of recombination. Thus more number of photons produced.
Hence the emitted photons from induced recombination are having the same frequency as that of
original inducing photons.
The wavelength of emitted radiation depends upon the concentration of donor and acceptor
atoms in GaAs.

APPLICATIONS OF LASERS IN ENGINEERING:

Military: Military uses of lasers include applications such as target designation and ranging,
defensive countermeasures, communications and directed energy weapons.
Directly as an energy weapon A laser weapon is directed-energy weapon based on lasers.
Defensive countermeasures: Defensive countermeasure applications can range from compact,
low power infrared countermeasures to high power, airborne laser systems. IR countermeasure
systems use lasers to confuse the seeker heads on infrared homing missiles.
Disorientation: Some weapons simply use a laser to disorient a person. One such weapon is
the Thales Green Laser Optical Warner.
Guidance: Laser guidance is a technique of guiding a missile or other projectile or vehicle to a
target by means of a laser beam.
Target designator :
Another military use of lasers is as a laser target designator. This
is a low-power laser pointer used to indicate a target for
a precision-guided munition, typically launched from an aircraft.
The guided munition adjusts its flight-path to home in to the laser
light reflected by the target, enabling a great precision in aiming.
The beam of the laser target designator is set to a pulse rate that matches that set on the guided
munition to ensure munitions strike their designated targets and do not follow other laser beams
which may be in use in the area. The laser designator can be shone onto the target by an aircraft
or nearby infantry. Lasers used for this purpose are usually infrared lasers, so the enemy cannot
easily detect the guiding laser light.
Laser sight: Laser sight used by the Israel Defense Forces during commando training
Smith & Wesson revolver equipped with a laser sight mounted on the trigger guard.
The laser has in most firearms applications been used as a tool to enhance the targeting of other
weapon systems. For example, a laser sight is a small, usually visible-light laser placed on a
handgun or a rifle and aligned to emit a beam parallel to the barrel. Since a laser beam has low
divergence, the laser light appears as a small spot even at long distances; the user places the spot
on the desired target and the barrel of the gun is aligned (but not necessarily allowing for bullet
drop, windage, distance between the direction of the beam and the axis of the barrel, and the
target mobility while the bullet travels).
Most laser sights use a red laser diode. Others use an infrared diode to produce a dot invisible to
the naked human eye but detectable with night vision devices. The firearms adaptive target
acquisition module LLM01 laser light module combines visible and infrared laser diodes. In the
late 1990s, green diode pumped solid state laser (DPSS) laser sights (532 nm) became available.
Modern laser sights are small and light enough for attachment to firearms.
Eye-targeted lasers: A non-lethal laser weapon was developed by the U.S. Air Force to
temporarily impair an adversary's ability to fire a weapon or to otherwise threaten enemy forces.
This unit illuminates an opponent with harmless low-power laser light and can have the effect of
dazzling or disorienting the subject or causing them to flee. Several types of dazzlers are now
available, and some have been used in combat. There remains the possibility of using lasers to
blind, since this requires such lower power levels, and is easily achievable in a man-portable
unit. However, most nations regard the deliberate permanent blinding of the enemy as forbidden
by the rules of war (see Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons). Although several nations have
developed blinding laser weapons, such as China's ZM-87, none of these are believed to have
made it past the prototype stage. In addition to the applications that cross over with military
applications, a widely known law enforcement use of lasers is for lidar to measure the speed of
vehicles.
Holographic weapon sight: A holographic weapon sight uses a laser diode to illuminate
a hologram of a reticle built into a flat glass optical window of the sight. The user looks through
the optical window and sees a cross hair reticle image superimposed at a distance on the field of
view.
APPLICATIONS OF LASERS IN MEDICINE:
 Cosmetic surgery (removing tattoos, scars, stretch marks, sunspots, wrinkles, birthmarks,
and hairs): see laser hair removal. Laser types used
in dermatology include ruby (694 nm), alexandrite (755 nm), pulsed diode array
(810 nm), Nd:YAG (1064 nm), Ho:YAG (2090 nm), and Er:YAG (2940 nm).
 Eye surgery and refractive surgery
 Soft tissue surgery: CO2, Er:YAG laser
 Laser scalpel (General surgery, gynecological, urology, laparoscopic)
 Photobiomodulation (i.e. laser therapy)
 "No-Touch" removal of tumors, especially of the brain and spinal cord.
 Intelligent laser speckle classification for skin health assessments (especially regarding
damage caused through ageing)
 In dentistry for caries removal, endodontic/periodontic procedures, tooth whitening,
and oral surgery
 Cancer treatment
 Burn and surgical scar management: scar contracture CO2 (especially the newer
fractionated CO2 lasers), redness and itch (Pulsed Dye laser - PDL), post-inflammatory
hyper-pigmentation (Q-switched lasers :Ruby, Alexandrite), burn scar unwanted hair
growth and trapped hairs (Ruby, IPL and numerous hair removal lasers)
 Fiber optics
Introduction:
1. An optical fiber (or fiber) is a glass or plastic fiber that carries light along its length.
2. Fiber optics is the overlap of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and
application of optical fibers.
3. Optical fibers are widely used in fiber-optic communications, which permits transmission over
long distances and at higher band widths (data rates) than other forms of communications.
4. Specially designed fibers are used for a variety of other applications, including sensors and
fiber lasers. Fiber optics, though used extensively in the modern world, is a fairly simple and old
technology.
Construction of Optical Fiber:
Optical fiber is a cylinder of transparent dielectric medium and designed to guide visible
and infrared light over long distances. Optical fibers work on the principle of total
internalreflection.
Optical fiber is very thin and flexible medium having a cylindrical shape consisting of three
sections
1) The core material
2) The cladding material
3) The outer jacket
The structure of an optical is shown in figure. The fiber has a core surrounded by a cladding
material whose reflective index is slightly less than that of the core material to satisfy the
condition for total internal reflection. To protect the fiber material and also to give mechanical
support there is a protective cover called outer jacket. In order to avoid damages there will be
some cushion between cladding protective cover.

Structure of an optical fiber

Principle of Optical Fiber:
When a ray of light passes from an optically denser medium into an optically rarer
medium, the refracted ray bends away from the normal. When the angle of incidence is increased
angle of refraction also increases and a stage is reached when the refracted ray just grazes the
surface of separation of core and cladding. At this position the angle of refraction is 90 degrees.
This angle of incidence in the denser medium is called the critical angle (θc) of the denser
medium with respect to the rarer medium and is shown in the fig. If the angle of incidence is
further increased then light is totally reflected. This is called total internal reflection. Let the
reflective indices of core and cladding materials be n1 and n2 respectively.

Total internal reflection:

When a light ray travelling from an optically denser medium into an optically rarer
medium, is incident at angle greater than the critical angle for the two media, thenthe ray is
totally reflected back into the medium by obeying the loss of reflection. This phenomenon is
known as totally internal reflection.
According to law of refraction,
n1 sinθ1= n 2 sinθ2
Here θ1=θc, θ2=90
n 1sinθc=n2 sin 90
Sinθc =

θc = sinˉ¹( )→(1)
 Equation (1) is the expression for condition for total internal reflection. In case of total
internal reflection, there is absolutely no absorption of light energy at the reflecting surface.
Since the entire incident light energy is returned along the reflected light it is called total internal
reflection. As there is no loss of light energy during reflection, hence optical fibers are designed
to guide light wave over very long distances.
Acceptance Angle & Acceptance Cone:
Acceptance angle:Itis the angle at which we have to launch the beam at its end to enable the
entire light to propagate through the core. Figshows longitudinal cross section of the launch of a
fiber with a ray entering it. The light is entered from a medium of refractive index n 0 (for air
n0=1) into the core of refractive index n1. The ray (OA) enters with an angle of incidence to the
fiber end face i.e. the incident ray makes angle with the fiber axis which is nothing but the
normal to the end face of the core. Let a right ray OA enters the fiber at an angle to the axis of
the fiber. The end at which light enter the fiber is called the launching pad.

Path of atypical light ray launched into fiber.

Let the refractive index of the core be n1 and the refractive index of cladding be n2. Here n1>n2.
The light ray reflects at an angle and strikes the core cladding interface at angle θ. If the angleθ
is greater than its critical angle θc, the light ray undergoes total internal reflection at the
interface.
According to Snell’s law
n0sinαi=n1sinαr → (2)
From the right angled triangle ABC
αr+θ=900
αr=900 –θ → (3)
Substituting (3) in (2), we get
n0sinαi =n1sin (900 –θ) = n1cos θ
 sinαi=( ) cos θ →(4)

When θ= θc, αi= αm=maximum α value

sinαm=( ) cos θc →(5)

From equation (1) Sinθc=

cos θc= = = →(6)

Substitute equation (6) in equation (5)

sinαm=( ) = →(7)

If the medium surrounding fiber is air, then n0=1

sinαm= →(8)
This maximum angle is called the acceptance angle or the acceptance cone half angle of the
fiber.
The acceptance angle may be defined as the maximum angle that a light ray can have with the
axis of the fiber and propagate through the fiber. Rotating the acceptance angle about the fiber
axis (fig.) describes the acceptance cone of the fiber. Light launched at the fiber end within this
acceptance cone alone will be accepted and propagated to the other end of the fiber by total
internal reflection. Larger acceptance angles make launching easier. Light gathering capacity of
the fiber is expressed in terms of maximum acceptance angle and is termed as “Numerical
Aperture”.

Acceptance cone
NUMERICAL APERTURE:
Numerical Aperture of a fiber is measure of its light gathering power. The numerical
aperture (NA) is defined as the sign of the maximum acceptance angle.
Numerical aperture (NA)= sinαm= →(9)

→ (10)

Where ∆= called as fractional differences in refractive indices and are the refractive

indices of core and cladding material respectively.

As n1≈ n2, we can take n1+ n2= 2n1
Then numerical aperture= (2n12∆) 1/2= n1 (2∆) 1/2
Numerical aperture is a measure of amount of light that can be accepted by a fiber. From
equation (9) it is seen that numerical aperture depends only on the refractive indices of core and
cladding materials and it is independent on the fiber dimensions. Its value ranges from 0.1 to 0.5.
A large NA means that the fiber will accept large amount of light from the source.
Classification optical fibers:
Difference between single mode fibers and multi mode fibers:
Single mode fiber Multimode fiber
1. In single mode fiber there is only one path for
1. In multimode fiber, large number of paths is
ray propagation available for light ray propagation.
2. A single mode step index fiber has less core
2. Multi mode fibers, large number of paths are
diameter (< 10 µm) and the difference between available for light ray propagation.
the reflective indices of core and cladding is
very small.
3. In single mode fibers, there is no dispersion. 3. There is signal distortion and dispersion takes
place in multimode fibers.
4. The band width is about 50 MHz for
4. The band width of the fiber lies in between 200
multimode step index fiber where as it is more MHz km to 600 MHz km even though
than 1000 MHz km in case of single mode step theoretically it has an infinite bandwidth.
index fiber.
5. NA of multimode step index fiber is more
5. NA of graded index fibers is less.
where as in single mode step index fibers, it is
very less.
6. Launching of light into single mode fibers is
6. Launching of light into multimode fibers is
difficult. easy.
7. Fabrication cost is very high. 7. Fabrication cost is less

Step index fibers and graded index fiber -transmission of signals in them:
Based on the variation of refractive index of core, optical fibers are divided into: (1) step index
and (2) graded index fibers. Again based on the mode of propagation, all these fibers are divided
into: (1) single mode and (2) multimode fibers. In all optical fibers, the refractive index of
cladding material is uniform. Now, we will see the construction, refractive index of core and
cladding with radial distance of fiber, ray propagation and applications of above optical fibers.
1) Step index fiber: The refractive index is uniform throughout the core of this fiber. As
we go radially in this fiber, the refractive index undergoes a step change at the core-cladding
interface. Based on the mode of propagation of light rays, step index fibers are of 2 types: a)
single mode step index fiber & b) multimode step index fibers. Mode means, the number of paths
available for light propagation of fiber. We describes the different types of fiber below
Single mode step index fiber: The core diameter of this fiber is about 8 to 10µm and outer
diameter of cladding is 60 to 70 µm. There is only one path for ray propagation. So, it is called
single mode fiber. The cross sectional view, refractive index profile and ray propagation are
shown in fig. (i). In this fiber, the transmission of light is by successive total internal reflections
i.e. it is a reflective type fiber. Nearly 80% of the fibers manufactured today in the world are
single mode fibers. So, they are extensively used.

Single mode step index fiber ;( a) Cross sectional view and refractive index profile ;( b) Ray
propagation
 Multimode step index fiber: The construction of multimode step index fiber is
similar to single mode step index fiber except that its core and cladding diameters are much
larger to have many paths for light propagation. The core diameter of this fiber varies from 50 to
200 µm and the outer diameter of cladding varies from 100 to 250 µm. The cross-sectional view,
refractive index profile and ray propagations are shown in fig 2. Light propagation in this fiber is
by multiple total internal reflections i.e it is a reflective type fiber.
Transmission of signal in step index fiber:Generally the signal is transmitted through the fiber
in digital form i.e. in the form of 1’s and 0’s. The propagation of pulses through the multimode
fiber is shown in fig. The pulse which travels along path 1(straight) will reach first at the other
end of fiber. Next the pulse that travels along with path 2(zig-zag) reaches the other end. Hence,
the pulsed signal received at the other end is broadened. This is known as intermodal dispersion.
This imposes limitation on the separation between pulses and reduces the transmission rate and
capacity. To overcome this problem, graded index fibers are used.
2) Graded index fiber: In this fiber, the refractive index decreases continuously from
center radially to the surface of the core. The refractive index is maximum at the center and
minimum at the surface of core. This fiber can be single mode or multimode fiber. The cross
sectional view, refractive index profile and ray propagation of multimode graded index fiber are
shown in fig . The diameter of core varies from 50 to 200µm and outer diameter of cladding
varies from 100 to 250 µm.
The refractive index profile is circularly symmetric. As refractive index changes continuously
radially in core, light rays suffer continuous refraction in core. The propagation of light ray is not
due to total internal reflection but by refraction as shown in fig. In graded index fiber, light rays
travel at different speed in different paths of the fiber. Near the surface of the core, the refractive
index is lower, so rays near the outer surface travel faster than the rays travel at the center.
Because of this, all the rays arrive at the receiving end of the fiber approximately at the same
time. This fiber is costly. .
Transmission of signal graded index fiber: In multimode graded index fiber, large number of
paths is available for light ray propagation. To discuss about inter modal dispersion, we consider
ray path 1 along the axis of fiber.
As shown in fig. along with the axis of fiber, the refractive index of core is maximum, so the
speed of ray along path 1 is less. Path 2 is sinusoidal and it is longer, along this path refractive
index varies. The ray mostly travels in low refractive region, so the ray 2 moves slightly faster.
Hence, the pulses of signals that travel along path 1 and path 2 reach other end of fiber
simultaneously. Thus, the problem of intermodal dispersion can be reduced to a large extent
using graded index fibers.

PULSE DISPERSION:

Step Index Fibres

Consider a ray of light OA be incident at an angle θi on the entrance aperture of the fibre as
shown fig.

The ray is refracted into the core along AB and makes an angle θr with the axis of the core. Now,
the ray strikes at the upper –core cladding at B. After this the ray is totally internally reflected
back inside the core. Further it strikes at point C of lower cladding and after reflection it again
strikes the upper interface at D. let t be the time taken by the light ray to cover the distance B to
C and then from C to D with velocity .
 Then ……(1)

If be the refractive index of core and is the speed of light in vacuum, then
……..(2)
From figure,

…….(3)

Substituting the value from eqs.(2) and (3) in eq (1), we get

……(4)

As the ray in the fiber propagates by a series of total internal reflections at the interface, the
time taken by the ray in traversing an axial length l of the fiber will be

……(5)

Now, we consider that all the light rays lying between angle 0 and critical angle θ c are present the
time taken by rays making zero angle with fibre axis will be minimum. This is given by putting
θr =o in eq (5). i.e

………(6)

the maximum time is given by

Or

…….(7)

The time intervals at the output is given by

…..(8)

We know that, numerical aperture

So, in terms of numerical aperture, delay difference is given by

…….(9)

Fiber Losses (Attenuation in Optical fibers): -

The main specification of a fiber optic cable is its attenuation.
Different mechanisms are responsible for the signal attenuation in the fiber.
The attenuation of the signal is measured in Decibel/KM.
Signal attenuation is defined as ratio of input optical power P i into fiber to the output
received optical power PO from the fiber.
The attenuation coefficient of the signal per unit length is given as α = dB/Km

Absorption losses: -
Absorption is basically a material property.
Absorption is a major cause of signal loss in an
optical fiber.
Absorption is defined as the portion of attenuation
resulting from the conversion of optical power into
another energy form, such as heat.
Absorption in optical fibers is explained by three
factors.
o Absorption by atomic defects in the fiber
material
o Extrinsic absorption by impurity atoms in the fiber material.
o Intrinsic absorption by the basic constituent atoms of the fiber material.
(i) Absorption by atomic defects: -
Atomic defects such as vacancies, imperfections of the atomic structure of the fiber
material and cluster of atoms produce a small absorption loss. By careful fabrication
these atomic defects can be reduced.
(ii) Extrinsic absorption by impurity atoms: -
Impurity absorption results from transition metal ions such as iron, chromium, copper,
manganese and Nickel.
Impurity absorption is more for fibers drawn from direct melt technique.
 The transition metal ions produce loss at λ = 0.8 µm.
Impurity absorption also results from OH- ions. The OH- ions which are present in the
material due to trapping of minute quantities of water molecules during manufacturing
absorb energy.
(iii)Intrinsic absorption: -
Intrinsic absorption is associated with basic fiber material (SiO 2). In the case of Silica
fibers, tail of infrared absorption by Si-O coupling occurs at wavelengths higher than 1.5
µm.
Intrinsic absorption also results from the electronic absorption bands in the ultra violet
region and from atomic vibration bands in the near infrared region.
Ultraviolet absorption decays exponentially with increasing wavelength.
Scattering losses: -
(i) Linear Scattering: -
Linear scattering transfers linearly the
optical power in one propagating
mode to a different mode.
This linear scattering process may
cause the attenuation of operating
mode power by means by transferring
power to leaky mode or radiation
mode which will not continue to
propagate within the core of fiber but
is radiated from the fiber.
Rayleigh scattering: Rayleigh scattering loss is the dominant loss mechanism in the UV
region. Its tail extends upto infrared region.
Rayleigh scattering loss is inversely proportional to the fourth power of wavelength. It
arises from the microscopic in-homogeneities present in the material of the fiber.
The in-homogeneities may arise from the density fluctuations, RI fluctuations and
compositional variations.
The transmission loss due to Rayleigh scattering is α = exp (-αscat L).
 Mie Scattering: - Mie scattering is a linear scattering which arises from the in-
homogeneities which are comparable in size to the guided wavelength.
Further, it is also due to the imperfect cylindrical structure of the waveguide;
irregularities in the core-cladding interface, core-cladding RI difference along the fiber
and density fluctuations.
(ii) Non-linear scattering losses: -
When we use high optical power levels the non-linear scattering losses occur. This
scattering causes the optical power in one mode to the other mode at different frequency
in either forward or backward direction.
These are observed in single mode fiber at high optical power densities.
Bending losses: -
Whenever the optical fiber contains bends, then the bends produce radiative losses. There
are two types of bending losses.
Macroscopic bending losses: - these occur when the radius of curvature of bend is greater
than fiber diameter. This situation arises when
a cable turns round a corner.
Microscopic bending losses: - these occur due
to bends in the fiber axis. This situation arises
when the fibers are incorporated into cables.
Macrobending losses are minimized by (i)
fibers with small relative refractive index and (ii) operating at the highest wavelength
possible.
Microbends are due to small scale fluctuations in the radius of curvature of the fiber axis.
Fluctuations in the radius of curvature either by non-uniformities in the manufacturing of
fiber or by non-uniform lateral pressures created during the cabling of the fiber.
These are minimized by careful cabling.
Advantages of Fiber Optic communication: -
 Enormous Bandwidth: -
In the coaxial cable transmission the bandwidth is upto around 500 MHz only
whereas in fiber optical communication it is as large as 105 GHz. Thus, the
 information carrying capacity of optical fiber system is far superior to the best copper
cable system.
 Electrical isolation: -
Since fiber optic materials are insulators, unlike their metallic counter parts, they do
not exhibit earth loop and interface problems. Hence communication through fiber
even in electrically hazardous environment do not cause any fear of spark hazards.
 Immunity to interference and cross talk: -
Since optical fibers are dielectric waveguides, they are free from any electromagnetic
interference (EMI) and radiofrequency interference (RFI). Hence fiber cables do not
require special shielding from EMI. Cross talk is very negligible.
 Signal security: -
Unlike the situation with copper cables a transmitted optical signal cannot be drawn
from a fiber without tampering it such an attempt will affect the original signal and
hence can be easily detected.
 Small size and weight: -
Since fibers are very small in diameter the space occupied by the fiber cable is
negligibly small compared to metallic cables. Optical cables are light in weight; these
merits make them more useful in aircrafts and satellites.
 Low transmissions loss: -
Since the loss in fibers is as low as 0.2 dB/Km, transmission loss is very less
compared to best copper conductors. Hence for long distance communication fibers
are preferred. Number of repeaters required is reduced.
 Ruggedness and flexibility: -
Fiber cable structures are flexible, compact and extremely rugged.
 Low cost: -
Since fibers are made of silica which is available in abundance, optical fibers are less
expensive.
Dispersion: -
There are two different types of dispersions, intramodal & intermodal dispersions.
Ecah type of dispersion mechanism leads to pulse spreading. As a pulse spreads energy is
overlapped.
 The spreading of the optical pulse as it travels along the fiber limits the capacity of the
fiber.
Intramodal dispersion: - Intramodal, chromatic, dispersion mainly depends primarily on
fiber materials. The intramodal dispersion may be a material dispersion or waveguide
dispersion.
Intramodal dispersion occurs because different colours of light travel through different
materials and different waveguide structures at different speeds.
Material dispersion occurs because the spreading of light pulse is dependent on the
wavelengths interaction with RI of the fiber core.
Material dispersion is a function of the source spectral width.
Material dispersion is less at longer wavelengths.
Waveguide dispersion occurs because the mode propagtion constant is a function of the
size of the fiber’s core relative to wavelength of operation.
In multimode fibers, waveguide dispersion and material dispersion are basically separate
properties, where as in single mode fiber they are inter-related.
Intermodal dispersion: -This occurs because each mode travels a different distance over
the same time span.
The modes of a light pulse that enter the fiber at one time exit the fiber at different times.
This condition causes the light to spread.
Fiber optic communication system :
Fiber oppticsessentially deals of with the communication(including voice signals,video signals
or digital data) by transmission of light through optical fibers. Optical fiber communication
system essentially consists of three parts:(a)transmitter (b) optical fiber and (c) receiver.The
transmitter includes modulator, encoder, light source, drive circuits and couplers. The receiver
includes amplifier and decoder,binary electrical signal and light decoder.
Block diagram represents optical fibre communication system
1. Encoder:
It is an electric circuit where in the information is encoded into binary sequences of zeros and
one.
2. Transmitter:
An electric signal is applied to the optical transmitter. The optical transmitter consists of driver
circuit and the light source.
Driver circuit drives the light source.
Light source converts electrical signal to optical signal.
3. Optical fiber:
The optical fiber acts as a wave guide and transmits the optical pulses towards the receiver, by
the principleof total internal reflection.
4. Receiver:
The light detector receives the optical pulses and converts them into electrical pulses. These
signals are amplified by the amplifier.
5. Decoder:
The amplified signals are decoded by the decoder.
Applications of optical fibers:
Optical Fibres uses in Medical industry
Because of the extremely thin and flexible nature, it used in various instruments to view internal
body parts by inserting into hollow spaces in the body. It is used as lasers during surgeries,
endoscopy, microscopy and biomedical research.
Optical Fibres used in Communication
In the communication system, telecommunication has major uses of optical fibre cables for
transmitting and receiving purposes. It is used in various networking fields and even increases
the speed and accuracy of the transmission data. Compared to copper wires, fibre optics cables
are lighter, more flexible and carry more data.
Optical Fibres used in Defense Purpose
Fibre optics are used for data transmission in high-level data security fields of military and
aerospace applications. These are used in wirings in aircraft, hydrophones for SONARs and
Seismics applications.
Optical Fibres are used in Industries
These fibres are used for imaging in hard to reach places such as they are used for safety
measures and lighting purposes in automobiles both in the interior and exterior. They transmit
information in lightning speed and are used in airbags and traction control. They are also used
for research and testing purposes in industries.
Optical Fibres used for Broadcasting
These cables are used to transmit high definition television signals which have greater bandwidth
and speed. Optical Fibre is cheaper compared to the same quantity of copper wires. Broadcasting
companies use optical fibres for wiring HDTV, CATV, video-on-demand and many applications.
Uses of Optical Fibre for Lightening and Decorations
By now, we got a fair idea of what is optical fibre and it also gives an attractive, economical and
easy way to illuminate the area and that is why it is widely used in decorations and Christmas
trees.
Optical Fibres used in Mechanical Inspections
On-site inspection engineers use optical fibres to detect damages and faults which are at hard to
reach places. Even plumbers use optical fibres for inspection of pipes.