AN INTRODUCTION TO FIBER OPTICS SYSTEM DESIGN Bruce E. BRILEY AT&T Bell Laboratories Naperville, Illinois, U.S.A. NORTH-HOLLAND AMSTERDAM NEW YORK OXFORD TOKYO
ELSEVIER SCIENCE PUBLISHERS B.V. Sara Burgerhartstraat 25 P.O. Box 211,1000 AE Amsterdam, The Netherlands Distributors for the U.S.A. and Canada: ELSEVIER SCIENCE PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. 655 Avenue of the Americas New York, N.Y. 10010, U.S.A. Library of Congress Catalog1ng-1n-PublIcation Data Briley, Bruce E. (Bruce Edwin), 1936- An introduction to fiber optics system design / Bruce E. Briley. ρ. cm. Reprint. Originally published: Amsterdam ; New York : North -Holland, c1988. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-444-88708-3 1. Fiber optics. I. Title. TA1800.B75 1990 621.36'92 dc20 90-34076 CIP ISBN: 0 444 88708 3 First hardcover edition: 1988 First softcover edition: 1990 ELSEVIER SCIENCE PUBLISHERS B.V., 1990 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. /Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, P.O. Box 1991,1000 BZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Special regulations for readers in the U.S.A. - This publication has been registered with the Copyright Clearance Center Inc. (CCC), Salem, Massachusetts. Information can be obtained from the CCC about conditions under which photocopies of parts of this publication may be made in the U.S.A. All other copyright questions, including photocopying outside of the U.S.A., should be referred to the publisher. No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Printed in The Netherlands
TO MARILYN, DENISE, SCOTT, STEVEN, AND TODD
PREFACE It is a privilege to have been technically active during two technology revolutions brought on, respectively, by the advent of the transistor and of practical fiber optics. The effects of the transistor are so pervasive as to intrude into almost every phase of personal as well as professional life: communications and entertainment equipment, computers, the automobile, etc. The effects of fiber optics are less pervasive as yet, but they may well eventually rival those of the transistor. Cheap, high-quality (low-noise) bandwidth will likely be available to all eventually via fiber optics. The uses of such bandwidth (transmission of voice, data and video) that immediately suggest themselves may well be only the most elementary applications when viewed against the backdrop of the dimly perceived future. It will likely take a generation or two before the "bandwidth is expensive" mindset is overcome, and heroic efforts to conserve it cease. Of course, if history can teach by analogy, it should be noted that any worthwhile commodity provided in apparent excess is rapidly depleted (e.g., computer real time). The author began teaching a graduate-level course in fiber optics at a time when there were no usable textbooks on the subject; the notes generated eventually crystallized into this book. The target of this text is the student and professional electrical/electronic engineer. It therefore attempts to build upon an assumed model of a typical student or practicing engineer who has been exposed to conventional transmission line, waveguide, circuit, and semiconductor principles and can therefore readily grasp fiber-optics system fundamentals on a comparative-anatomy basis. The text was produced using electronic typesetting, allowing the final version to be up to date and in print within three months (this technique may soon become universal). As something of an experiment, solutions (not just answers) to the exercises are included as an appendix, on the theory that the better students will attempt a problem before looking toward the appendix (the best approach), the struggling student will not be left out in the cold, and the tutorial thinking behind the given solution (or at least a solution) may serve a useful purpose. The effects of radiation upon fiber optics components and systems (a topic often neglected) are discussed in association with each pertinent section.
viii PREFACE I wish to express my thanks to Harvey Lehman, Avi Vaidya, Dave Vlack, Bob Staehler, and John Degan, who supported this effort unstintingly, to the reviewers, who helped to shape the book (particular thanks are due Ira Jacobs and Brad Kummer whose assistance in incorporating manufacturing and system details was invaluable), to the students who supplied me with useful feedback, and to Chris Scussel, who aided with the typesetting software. Thanks are also due to Ilona Jones who created the cover (the nature of which will be clear to any reader), originally for the January/February, 1987 issue of the AT&T Technical Journal, and to Andy Meyers, Editor of that publication, who permitted its use. Finally, I wish to express my appreciation to my other colleagues who good-naturedly endured the preoccupation of their coworker while this text was in preparation. Β. Ε. B.