Propagation of light in optical fibers
The technology of using glass fibers to carry signals impressed on light beams has grown exponentially over the past decade owing to the many advantages of this transmission medium. These include small size, low weight, high bandwidth and immunity to electromagnetic interference. Applications already realized range from telephone and television subscriber loops to data acquisition for nuclear weapons tests. We have developed a very complete theoretical model of light propagation in optical fibers, which treats the total transmitted beam rather than individual modes of the system. The model allows us to study important aspects of light propagation in realistic fibers: spatial and angular confinement of the transmitted light, power losses due to absorbing jackets and splices, and bandwidth restrictions that result because the individual modes propagate energy with differing group velocities. In addition, we can retrieve a complete modal descripion of the light, i.e., find all the mode shapes and their corresponding wavenumbers. This model allows us to treat fibers with arbitrary refractive index profiles, with finite core and cladding regions, and with lossy components. It also serves as a check on more approximate theoretical methods. Excellent agreement with experimental results gives us confidence in the applicability of the model to real situations.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 6346085
- Journal Information:
- Int. Adv. Nondestr. Test.; (United States), Vol. 9
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Mode properties of optical fibers with lossy components by the propagating beam method
System Modeling of kJ-class Petawatt Lasers at LLNL
Related Subjects
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
OPTICAL FIBERS
LIGHT TRANSMISSION
DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS
DATA TRANSMISSION
GLASS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
THEORETICAL DATA
COMMUNICATIONS
DATA
FIBERS
INFORMATION
NUMERICAL DATA
420500* - Engineering- Materials Testing
657005 - Theoretical Physics- Optics