ECE6521 Course Syllabus

ECE6521

Optical Fibers (3-0-3)

Technical Interest
Group

Optics and Photonics

Prerequisites

None

Corequisites

None

Catalog Description

Provides an in-depth understanding of the light guiding properties of optical fibers as used in communication systems.

Textbook(s)

Buck, Fundamentals of Optical Fibers (2nd edition), Wiley Interscience, 2004. ISBN 9780471221913 (required)

Strategic
Performance
Indicators (SPIs)

SPIs are a subset of the abilities a student will be able to demonstrate upon successfully completing the course.

Topical Outline

Introductory Review
   Electromagnetic wave equations
   Plane wave reflection and transmission
   Effects of material resonances on wave propagation
   Group velocity dispersion

Wave Propagation in Dielectric Slab Guides}

   Solution of the wave equation
   Guided modes and cutoff conditions
   Wave and ray pictures
   Leaky and radiation modes
   Propagation in curved guides
Field Theory of Step Index Fibers
   Ray classification and analysis
   Solution of the wave equation for multimode fibers
   Field descriptions and mode classification
   Single mode fibers
   Single mode fiber measurements

 Losses

   Fabrication issues
   Intrinsic and extrinsic loss mechanisms
   Bending losses
   Coupling losses
   Loss measurements
      Systems implications

Dispersion

   Effects of dispersion on pulse propagation
   Material, waveguide, and profile dispersion
   Group delay distortion in multimode fibers
   Cubic dispersion
   Dispersion measurement and fiber bandwidth
   Polarization mode dispersion
   Systems implications
   Dispersion mapping
   Dispersion equalization techniques

Special Purpose Index Profiles

   Multimode graded index fibers
   Single mode graded index fibers
   Dispersion shifting and flattening in single mode fiber
   Polarization-maintaining fiber
   Equivalent index profiles for curved guides

Fiber Amplifiers

   The amplification principle
   Material systems for fiber amplifiers
   Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers
      Multi-wavelength operation
      Gain flattening
      Pulse interaction
      Black box models

Nonlinear Effects

   Nonlinear optical concepts
   Self- and cross-phase modulation, soliton propagation
   Stimulated Raman and Brillouin scattering
   Four-wave mixing
   Importance of nonlinear effects in communication systems.