Study of Chromatic Dispersion in Single-Mode Optical Fiber

Abstract

In the optical communication system, optical fibers are used to transmit information in a long-haul communication system at a very high speed. However, attenuation causes loss in signal transmission. Chromatic dispersion is an ultimate limiting factor for attenuation in high-speed long-distance communication. The chromatic dispersion causes a broadening of the incident pulse while traversing along the fiber length. This broadening reduces the information-carrying capacity of the transmitted signal. Chromatic dispersion is caused by material and waveguide dispersion. We used COMSOL Multiphysics to evaluate chromatic dispersion for the different refractive indexes of silica glass by varying wavelengths from 1300 (nm) to 1600 (nm). We have modelled a 2D optical fiber using the Electromagnetic Wave, Frequency Domain. The effective mode index was computed using Mode Analysis and total dispersion is calculated theoretically. The computed values of chromatic dispersion are within 7% of theoretical values.