PhotonicsandOptoelectronics(P&O)Volume3,2014www.jpojournal.

org
doi:10.14355/jpo.2014.03.007

AnalysisofDispersionandAttenuation
CharacteristicsoftheBraggFiber
ZhejnoI.Zhejnov1,JordanR.Urumov2
DepartmentofComputerScienceandTechnologies,TechnicalUniversityofVarna,Bulgaria

DepartmentofCommunicationEngineeringandTechnologies,TechnicalUniversityofVarna,Bulgaria,

zh_viv@abv.bg;2jurumov@abv.bg

Received26May2013;Revised19April2014;Accepted22April2014;PublishedMay2014
2014ScienceandEngineeringPublishingCompany

Abstract
In the article, a model of analysis and an algorithm for
calculationofthegroupvelocitydispersionandthelossesof
light, spreading in a Bragg optical fiber, are proposed. A
mathematicalmodel,basedonthemethodofthegeometrics
optics is included. The influence of the fiber clad dielectric
propertiesonthelightpropagationistakenintoaccount.A
comparison of the dispersion and the bandwidth of fibers
with different number layers for low modes are made.
Examples of Bragg fibers with different optical properties
andattenuationareshown.Finally,advantagesoftheBragg
fiber, observed on the diagrams of attenuation, dispersion
andbandwidth,arelisted.
Keywords

The attenuation of the light in the fiber during

transmission to long distances is critical. In the usual
fibers, the attenuation is limited by the Rayleigh
scattering of the energy of spreading modes. Because
of that, when manufacturing, the fibers should use
purenessmaterialswithlowdielectriclosses.
All PCF allow easy changing of dispersion and can
compensate the dispersion in the telecommunication
fibers.Thehighattenuationcanbeovercomebyanew
design.
ExamplesofdifferentkindsofopticalcylindricalPCF
are shown in FIG. 1. These fibers have different
mechanismtokeepthelightinsidethecore.

BraggFiber;Bandwidth;Dispersion;Losses

Introduction
In the conventional optical fibers, propagation of the
light only in the core is caused by the total internal
reflection from the clad. This is possible when the
effectiverefractiveindexofthecoreisgreaterthanthe
cladding.TheBraggfiberisonedimensionalfiberand
is constructed as uniaxial cylindrical layers. The fiber
claddingisadielectricmirror,realizedasamultilayer
dielectric coverage. This kind of fibers is a part of so
called Photonic Crystal Fibers (PCF) or
microstructuredfibers.Thetermmarksthemostofthe
opticalfiberswithacomplicatedcladstructure;which
often includes one or twodimensional periodic
structuresandhassubstantialinfluenceontheoptical
properties of the fiber PCF decrease significantly the
restrictions, caused by the materials and the
construction of the conventional optical fibers and
allow the characteristics of the fibers as bandwidth,
dispersion, nonlinearity, modal area to be controlled
morefreely.

FIG.1PCFFIBERS.()BRAGGFIBER,WITHAONE
DIMENSIONALPERIODICCLADDINGOFCONCENTRIC
LAYERS.(B)TWODIMENSIONALPERIODICSTRUCTURE(A
TRIANGULARLATTICEOFAIRHOLESHOLEYFIBER),
CONFININGLIGHTINAHOLLOWCOREBYABANDGAP.(C)
HOLEYFIBERTHATCONFINESLIGHTINASOLIDCOREBY
INDEXGUIDING.

Nowadays there is no universal and precise enough

methodofevaluationofthefiberlosses,whichallows
an optimizing its construction properties (diameter,
layers thickness, refractive index of the material) in a
given frequency band. Numerical solution of the
Maxwell equations is realized in many software
systems, but it needs significant computation power.
Solutionofthesystemofpartialdifferentialequations
takes tens of minutes or hours. Despite of some
accessible software modules, creating such a

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completed software tool is not an easy task. The

software systems, ready to use, are specialized to
analyse a group of similar problems and they are
expensive.

ofsurfacenumberi,definedas:

Nextwewillproposeanengineeringaccuracymethod
for analysing the light propagation in a multilayer
Braggfiberwithahollowcoreasaresultoftunnelling
and taking account the dielectric losses of the fiber
clad.

where
and
.Thephaseshiftingof
incidentbeams,passingthroughthelayernumberiis
,where isthewavenumber
givenby
.
inthefreespace,

n
n
Ti Ti1 Ti ,i=1,2,3,,M+1,
nTi 1 nTi

(2)

Ineverylayer,thetransverserefractionfactorsforTM
andTEpolarizationaredescribedas:

Analysis of Bragg Fiber by the Geometric

Optics Method
Suppose we have a Bragg optical fiber with
cylindrical layers of cladding. The core refractive
index is
. A crosssection view of the fiber is
presentedinFIG.2.

ni , TM polarization
nTi cosi
,
ni , TE polarization
, 1, 2, ,

(3)

, .

The spreading matrix associates the electric field

densityoftheincidentwithrefractedbeamrecursively:

Ti exp( ji) ETi1, ,(4)

ETi, 1 exp( ji)
E Ti

Ti exp( ji) exp( ji) ETi1,

Ti,
i=,1,,1.
Here the refractive factor is Ti=ETi,/ETi,+and associates
Ti+1withrecursion:

FIG.2OBLIQUEINCIDENCEINMULTILAYERDIELECTRIC
STRUCTURE

Becauseofcentralsymmetryofthefiber,onlyhalfofa
longitudinal section is shown. We suppose that the
fiberislikeaflatmultilayerdielectricstructure.From
the left to the right in the figure is located the core,
layer1,layer2,layer3,,layerMofthecladding.The
symbol marks the core refractive index. is the
refractiveindexofthelayernumberi. isrefractive
index of the uppermost layer. The thickness of the
layeriissignedas,i=1,2,3...M.Here , ,k=1,2,,
M+1marksfalling(+)orrefracted()partsofelectrical
fieldat the border oflayer k and thelayer on the left
before it. The leaking field from waveguide is signed
as
,
, . The Snell s law describes the
relationship between the angles of incidence and
refractionandtherefractiveindexesofthematerialat
the border surface between every two of all M+1
boundarylayers:
,

(1)

Ti 1exp( 2 ji )
Ti 1Ti
Ti Ti 1exp( 2 ji ) ,i=,1,,1,

(5)

where ,
. A similar association exists
,
between electric and magnetic field on the boundary
between2layers:

ETi cos i
H j 1 sin i
Ti Ti

jTi sin i ) E
Ti 1 ,

H
cos i Ti 1

(6)

wherei=,1,,1.
In (6) the transverse characteristic impedances are
definedas:

cos TM polarization
,

TE polari zation

cos

(7)

whereTi 0 / nTi . The total power of incident beam

towardsthewavevectordirection,itszcomponent
andtheinputpowerintofirstlayer forTEandTM
polarizationsaregivenby:
2

wheni=1,2,3,,M.

Pin 21 Ein , Pin , z Pin cos a ,

a

We suppose there is no incident field on the right of

the structure. Here is a transverse refractive index

a 0 / na , P1 Pin , z (1 1 ) .(8)

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PhotonicsandOptoelectronics(P&O)Volume3,2014www.jpojournal.org

theexpressions:

Thelossesofreflectionare:
P1 ( )
Pin , z ( )

1 ( ) ,

(9)

Thenormalizedattenuationis:

B ( )

Pin , z ( ) P1 ( )
Pin , z ( )

( ) .

(10)

Wediscussafiberwithradiusa,corerefractiveindex
,claddingrefractiveindex .Thelightisspreading
whensina> / . FIG.3showsthetrajectoryofbeams.

n1

na

2
2
d (arg( ( ))
d ( ) 2 ( )
(14)

.
2
d

2 .c
d

ThetotalattenuationBN()alongthewholelengthof
the fiber is expressed as a sum of the particular area
attenuations Bi() in which the reflected beam is
signedwithintegernumber1,2,3,N,asfollows:
B N ( ) B1 ( ).B2 ( ).B3 ( )...B N ( )
(15)
N
2
N
Bi ( ) ( ( )) .

.(16)

cr

( )

In expression (15)
are complex refractive
coefficientsinareaswithincidentanglea:

n1
FIG.3MERIDIONALBEAMSINTHECORE

Thespreadingmodesofindexmhavediscretevalues
of the angle a. The transverse resonance condition
expressesthephasechangeforonezigzagofthebeam,
multipleby2:

The real part accounts the propagation losses, and

theimaginarypartisaphasecoefficient.Wheninthe
clad,therearedielectricallosses,therefractiveindexn
andwavevectorkarecomplexnumberstoo:

n n' jn" , k k ' jk " .

The propagating electrical field trough z axis is

representedas:

Thespreadingmodesofindexmhavediscretevalues
of the angle a. The transverse resonance condition
expressesthephasechangeforonezigzagofthebeam,
multipleby2:
4

(11)

where is a phase changed by reflection from the

boundary core cladding. Between two sequential
refraction,thepathoflightbeamis
4 .
.Ifthe
lengthofthefiberisequaltoL,thereareNreflections
inside the core, where
/ . The losses B() in a
fiber with length L for TE and TM polarization are
proportionaltoN:
B ( ) N . ( )

L. ( )
lz

.(12)

The reflection factor is ( ) ( ) exp(arg(( )) , and

the phase change when the beam passes through the
entirefiberisN.arg(()).Thedelaysofbeamswith
and polarization are respectively e and m. They
arecalculatedbyanexpression:
2 d (arg( ( ))
,
( )
2 . .c
d

(13)

where()isreflectionfactorforTEandmodes.
The chromatic dispersion of the fiber d

.(18)
The phase coefficient can be expressed by the real
partoftherefractivecoefficientandthewavelength
.Usually

infreespaceas
/

10

cr

is given by

.(19)

From(17,18,19)follows:
,

(20)

.(21)
Whendielectricallossesarelow,

(17)

Example
Lets have a Mlayers Bragg fiber with an air core, a
core radius a=62 m; na=1.0, nb=1.5. The cladding
consists of three different materials, each of them
having different losses. (H,L,b layers). The thickness
ofthelayersischosensoastomakeaphasedifference
of900forthecentralwavelength0=1500nm.
Theuserenterslosscoefficientsofthelayers , , .
After solving the characteristic equation (11) for m=1
and doing some calculations according to the above
proposed mathematical model, we obtain as a result

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therefractioncoefficientsofthemultilayercladding.
Thenwecalculatethenormalizedattenuations Bte ( )

Afterthat,weobtainthegroupdelayanddispersion.
Theinfluenceofthelosses[dB/km]ofthecladonthe
attenuationforTEwaveisshowninFIG.4.

for TE polarization in [dB] for a fiber without

deformation.
0
500

dB/km

Bte( )

1000

1500
Btea( )
2000
Bteb( )
2500
Btec( )
3000
Bted( )
3500
4000
4500
5000
1000

1120

1240

1360

1480

1600

1720

1840

1960

2080

2200

nm

FIG.4ATTENUATIONBTE()WHENTHEMATERIALHASDIFFERENTLOSSES.THEUPPERDIAGRAMRANGEIS30DB,THELOWER
DIAGRAMRANGEIS5000DB

FIG. 5 shows a comparison between attenuations Bte

ofthefirstTEmodeintheBraggfiberwithM=9layers
of the cladding and conventional SMF, depending on
losses of material [dB/km], when the wavelength is
fixedto=1550nm.
0
7
14

dB/km

21
Bte1550 28
35
Bte1550_cl
42
49
56
63
70

14

21

28

35

42

49

56

63

70

dB/km

FIG5ATTENUATIONOFBRAGGFIBERANDSMFWHEN
LOSSESOFTHECLADAREDIFFERENT

The comparison of the attenuation of the Bragg fiber

andconventionalSMFshows,thatincaseof<7dB/km

62

theconventionalSMFhavelowerattenuationperunit
length. When losses rise above 7dB/km, the Bragg
fibercanhavelowerattenuationthanSMF.
FIG. 6 shows changing of the attenuation of the
fundamental TE mode (m=1), in a Bragg fiber with
coreradius
62
,=1550nm,asfunctionoflosses
in material . Here are some diagrams of the
attenuation Bte()in a fiber with different number of
clad layers (M=921). The diagram shows, that with
increasing of the number of the dielectric clad layers
theattenuationofthefibersdecreases,thisdecreasing
changing more intensively in fibers containing fewer
numbersoflayersintheclad,thaninfiberscontaining
over 13 layers in the clad. The increasing of above
50dB/km abruptly increases total attenuation of the
fiber. However, even in fibers with 11 layers and
losses <68dB/km, total attenuation is less than
20dB/km.

PhotonicsandOptoelectronics(P&O)Volume3,2014www.jpojournal.org

FIG. 7 shows shifting of the maximum of the wave

characteristicoftheBraggfiberwithdifferentnumbers
of layers M=9, 11, 13, 15, when losses of material in
cladding increase. It is shown that this shifting
depends more strongly on losses of the material
claddinginfiberwithlargernumbersoflayersinthe
clad.

0
Bte1550_M9 2.5
5

dB/km

Bte1550_M11

Bte1550_M13 7.5
10
Bte1550_M15
12.5
Bte1550_M17
15
Bte1550_M19
17.5
Bte1550_M21
20
22.5
25
20 23 26 29 32 35 38 41 44 47 50 53 56 59 62 65 68

dB/km

FIG.6ATTENUATIONBTE()INABRAGGFIBERWITHM=921
CLADDINGLAYERS

m_M9

nm

m_M11
m_M13
m_M15

1625
1620
1615
1610
1605
1600
1595
1590
1585
1580
1575
1570
1565
1560
1555
1550
20

24

28

32

36

40

FIG.8showsthechangingofthebandwidth[nm]
of the wave characteristic Bte() on level 3dB,
dependingonthelossesofthefibercladdingmaterial
[dB/km]when=9,11,13,15claddinglayers.

44

48

52

56

60

64

68

dB/km

FIG.7MAXIMUMOFTHEWAVECHARACTERISTIC,DEPENDINGONTHELOSSESINA
FIBERWITHDIFFERENTNUMBERCLADLAYERS

example, when M=9 layers, and =0dB/km the

bandwidth is =300nm and when =68dB/km the
bandwidthdecreasesto=230nm.

800
730
660
3dB_M9 590

nm

3dB_M11 520

FIG.9showsthechangingofthesteepnssst_plusand
st_minus of short wave and long wave slopes of the
wave characteristic Bte(), depending on the losses
[dB/km],thenumberofcladlayersbeingM=15.

3dB_M13 450
380
3dB_M15
310
240
170
100
20 23 26 29 32 35 38 41 44 47 50 53 56 59 62 65 68

dB/km

FIG.8CHANGINGTHEBANDWIDTH,DEPENDINGONLOSSES
INAFIBERWITHDIFFERENTNUMBERCLADLAYERS
0.4
0.36
0.32

FIG. 10 shows the attenuation Bte(=1550nm) in the

fiberasafunctionofcladmateriallosses=2068dB/km.
Onacommondiagramarerepresentedattenuationsin
fiberswithM=9layersanddifferentcoreradius(a=10
100m).

dB/km.nm

0.28
st_plus_M15
st_minus_M15

Thestudiesshowthatsteepnssoftheslopesofwave
characteristics rises whennumbers of fiber layers rise
duetothedecreasingoftheattenuationandincreasing
the flatness of the wave characteristic Bte() in the
bandtwidth.

0.24
0.2
0.16
0.12
0.08
0.04
0
20 23 26 29 32 35 38 41 44 47 50 53 56 59 62 65 68

dB/km

FIG.9SLOPEOFTHEWAVECHARACTERISTICASA
FUNCTIONOFLOSSES

The bandwidth is narrower in fiber with fewer

numbers of layers and decreases when rises. For

The chart demonstrates the decreasing of attenuation

oftheBraggfiber,whentheradiusofthehollowcore
increases.
FIG.11presentstheattenuationofthesamefiberasa
functionofthecladmateriallosses,presentedbytg
andwithdifferentfibercoreradius(a=10100m).

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www.jpo-journal.org Photonics and Optoelectronics (P&O)Volume3,2014

FIG.10ATTENUATION,DEPENDINGONTHELOSSESINAFIBERWITHDIFFERENTCORERADIUS

FIG11ATTENUATIONOFTHEFIBERASAFUNCTIONOFCLADMATERIALLOSSESANDCORERADIUS

Conclusions
Theproposedmathematicalmodelandthecalculation
algorithm allow an approximate analysis of the basic
characteristics of Bragg fiber. This method makes it
possible for optical fibers with M (M21) clad layers
to be analyzed. The obtained numerical results show
theinfluenceoflossesofrealdielectricmaterialsover
the attenuation of the wave propagation in the Bragg
fibers.
The comparison between the attenuation of Bragg
fiber with small numbers of layers (M=9) and
conventional SMF with the same dielectrical losses.
of the material clearly shows that the Bragg fiber has
an attenuation greater than the usual SMF, when the
lossesinthedielectriccladaresmall(<7dB/km)dueto
limited transparency of the cladding. The increasing
the losses in the dielectrical cladding (>7dB/km)
makes the Bragg fiber attenuation less than the

64

attenuation in the SMF. In case when <20dB/km,

lossesofthedielectricmaterialslightlyinfluenceover
the attenuation in the fiber. This difference becomes
very small when losses exceed 60dB/km (
10 ).
The attenuation increases very fast (by more than
20dB/km) when >70dB/km. This means that to
manufactureBraggfibers,itisnotnecessarytousethe
complicatedtechnology,togetpurematerials,usually
usedforconventionalopticalfibers.
Increasing the fiber air core radius decreases the
attenuationinthefiber.
The bandwidth decreases relatively slightly when the
lossesofthematerialincrease.Thewavecharacteristic
isasymmetric, its short wave slope being shorterand
steeper and the long wave one more gradual and
longer. The steepness of the slopes depends on value
ofthelosses.Whenthelossesofcladmaterialincrease,
the steepness of short wave slope decreases and the
steepnessofthelongwaveoneincreases.

PhotonicsandOptoelectronics(P&O)Volume3,2014www.jpojournal.org

Whenthedielectriclossesincrease,thedispersionand
thegroupdelaytimedecrease.

J. D. Joannopoulos, S. G. Johnson, J. N. Winn, R. D. Meade.

Photoniccrystals:moldingtheflowoflight.NewJersey,

Themethodofgeometricalopticsislessaccuratethan
numericalmethodsofcalculationsofthefield,usedin
some software packets, based on a large group of
general and specific methods of solving Maxwell
equations. The obtained quantitative and qualitative
dependences for PCF Bragg fiber are similar to the
other ones. This analytical method of calculation is a
lot faster than the numerical ones, because of its
simplicity.

M. D. Nielsen, N. A. Mortensen, J. R. Folkenberg, K. P.

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