Plastic optic fiber PS&E

MUSTHAFA
CUSAT

1. PLASTIC OPTIC FIBER (POFs) MUHAMMED MUSTHAFA C.P , S5 DEPT. OF POLYMER SCIENCE AND RUBBER TECHNOLOGY COCHIN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

2. 1 Introduction 2 POF (Plastic Optical Fiber) terminology 3 Index profiles 4 Overview – POF Plastic optical fiber 6 Application 7 Conclusion 8 Reference

3. Introduction Plastic optical fibers (POFs) are a low-cost solution for low-speed, short-distance applications in digital car networks, industrial networks, and home networks and appliances. The plastic optical fiber is made out of a plastic such as acrylic (PMMA) as the core material and fluorinated or perfluorinated polymers as the cladding materials. The working key principle is the total internal reflection at the interface between the core and the cladding (having a lower refractive index), which confines the propagating light beam within the core.

4. Plastic optical fiber

5. Basically similar or same construction as GOF Larger core Simplex and Duplex figure 8 or round cable Loose tube

6. POF (Plastic Optical Fiber) terminology Core Acrylic Acrylic Glass Cladding Fluorinated Polyperfluoro Fluorinated butenylvinylether PMMA PCF traditional perfluorinated PROCESS Plasma OVD draw extrusion extrusion

7. Index profiles PMMA Step Index core = Constant refractive index PMMA Graded Index Core = several layer of material with different refractive indexes Perfluorinated Polymer Graded index Core = parabolic index

8. Overview - POF (PMMA and perfluorinated) Index profile Type of fiber Core Ø NA Attenuation Bandwidth SI-POF (PMMA) SI-POF low NA 980 µm 980 µm 0.5 0.3 180dB/km ~ 50 MHz . 100m ~ 100 MHz . 100m DSI-POF 980 µm 0.3 180dB/km ~ 100 MHz . 100m GI-POF (PMMA) 980 µm 500 µm 0.2 200dB/km ~ 1.5 GHz . 100m GI-POF (PF) 62.5/245 120/450 200/490 0.3 50dB/km ~ 3 GHz . 100m

9. Step Index polymer optical fiber (SI-POF) Core Ø : 980 μm Cladding Ø : 1000 μm Attenuation : 180 dB/km Bandwidth : 10 MHz . 100m ( 100 MHz . 100m ) Wavelength : 650nm Advantage : easy , fast and inexpensive connection technology commercially available (Mitsubishi, Toray , Fuji, Optimedia ) Disadvantage: high attenuation, low bandwidth

10. Attenuation spectra of PMMA fiber Light Wavelength (Nm) Attenuation (dB/km) red 650 180 amber 570 66 green 520 73

11. Core Ø : 900 μm Cladding Ø : 1000 μm Attenuation : 180 dB/km Bandwidth : 100 MHz . km Wavelength : 650nm Cable : tight buffer Advantage : easy, fast and inexpensive connection technology commercially available (Mitsubishi, Fuji, Optimedia ) Disadvantage : high attenuation Multistep Index Plastic Optical Fiber (GI-POF)

12. Core Ø : 120 μm Cladding Ø : 500 μm Attenuation : 50 dB/km Bandwidth : 1000 MHz*km Wavelength : 1330nm Cable : loose buffer (extra strength members) Advantage : low attenuation, high bandwidth Disadvantage : termination, expensive, similar to GOF commercially not available (Asahi, Nexans , Chromis ) Graded Index Plastic Optical Fiber (GI-POF)

13. Attenuation spectra of per fluorinated POF Light Wavelength (Nm) Attenuation (dB/km) infrared 850 20 1300 50

14. Plastic optical fiber IEC 60793-2-4 – Specification for category A4 multimode fiber A4a A4b A4c A4d A4e A4f A4g A4h Core Ø (µm) * * * * 500 200 120 62.5 Cladd Ø (µm) 1000 750 500 1000 750 490 490 245 NA 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.30 0.25 0.19 0.19 0.19 Buffered yes yes yes yes no no no no cabled yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes Operating wavelength (nm) 650 650 650 650 650 650, 850, 1300 650, 850, 1300 850, 1300 * Typically 15 to 35 µm smaller than the cladding diameter

15. Simplex and Duplex cables (PMMA fiber) Tight Buffer Tightly buffered with a thermoplastic material. PMMA POF - Step Index, Multistep, Graded Index Tight buffer Cladding Core Tight buffer Cladding Core

16. Duplex cables (per fluorinated fiber) lose buffer Cladding Core Outer sheath Strength member Single loose tube Loose sheath with air cap ( µm up to mm) . Dry – no gel Perfluorinated POF Graded Index

17. Cable for harsh environment (PMMA fibers) Tight buffer Cladding Core Outer sheath Strength member Filling element Tight Buffer Tightly buffered with a thermoplastic material. PMMA POF - Step Index, Multistep, Graded Index Outer sheath and strength members e.g. PUR outer sheath and aramid yarns for drag chain and harsh industrial environments

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19. REFERENCE United States Patent PLASTIC OPTICAL CABLE Tatsukami et al. , POLYMERIC OPTICAL CONDUCTOR Beuth et al. , United States Patent OPTICAL TRANSMISSION FIBER Yamamoto et al. , United States Patent