Midcontinent Communications
Fiber Optics Laboratory

New Location

CEH 302

The Midcontinent Communications Fiber Optics Laboratory at South Dakota State University (SDSU) is funded by a major grant from the National Science Foundation matched by the College of Engineering, the Electrical Engineering Department , the Electronics Engineering Technology Department, and the Physics Department. The laboratory name reflects the generous gift of Joe & Elaine Floyd matched by Stan Zimmer, a 1947 SDSU electrical engineering graduate.  Mr. Floyd is the president, chief operation officer and director of Midcontinent Communications, Inc. Minneapolis, MN.  The laboratory was originally located in the ground floor of Harding Hall, room 124. However, starting the year 2006, the laboratory is moved to CEH room 302.
The laboratory cordinator is Dr. Alfred S. Andrawis,  Professor at SDSU.  The laboratory is equipped with two 5ftx10ft Optical Tables, high resolution (50 pico meter) Optical Spectrum Analyzer, Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR), Fusion Splicer, several Optical Power Meters, several Laser Power Sources, tunable laser source, optical attenuators, optical polarizes, and numerous other optical components.

Installation of the Optical Tables during laboratory move to CEH in January 2006.

The first course taught in the laboratory was the Fiber Optic Communications course, Spring 1999.   Beside teaching, the laboratory is utilized for undergraduate and graduate research in optical fiber communications and gas sensing. 

Course outline is as follows:

Experiment 1: Introduction
Objectives: Review safety measures and theoretical concepts of optics and fiber optics.

Experiment 2: Fiber Geometry, Cleaving, Coupling and Inspection
Objectives:
1. Introduce fiber cleaving using a variety of cleavers.
2. Check the cleave using inspection microscope.
3. Test fiber to fiber coupling using mechanical splices.

Studying the effects of fiber misalignments

 

Experiment 3:  Numerical Aperture and Fiber Attenuation
Objectives:
1. Measure numerical aperture for multimode fiber.
2. Measure fiber attenuation per unit length.

 

Experiment 4: Handling Single Mode Fiber
Objectives:
1. Couple light to single mode fiber.
2. Measure the effect of fiber bending (bending loss).
3. Observe the effects of angular and axial misalignment.
4. Splice a single mode fiber using a fusion splicer.

 Coupling laser light to a multi-mode fiber.

Checking the light emitted from the fiber.

Experiment 5: Properties of Single Mode Fiber
Objectives: Measure the far-field power distribution of the fiber as a function of angle and fiber modes.

Experiment 6: Semiconductor Laser Diode Characterization
Objectives:
1. Plot laser's static input current versus output optical power (LD characteristics).
2. Examine laser's frequency versus current characteristics.
3. Observe modulation spectral broadening (FM chirp).
4. Measure laser's amplitude, phase and frequency noise.

Checking the polarization of the infra red light emitted from the laser source
 

Determining the characteristics of a laser diode

Experiment 7: Fiber Optic Communication Devices
Objectives:
1. Experiment with multi-mode bi-directional couplers.
2. Build a wavelength division multiplexer (WDM).

 

Characteristics of a DWDM device

Experiment 8: Fiber Optic Communication System I
Objectives:
1. Build a noncoherent, intensity modulated optical fiber communication link.
2. Observe fiber dispersion as a function of signal's wavelength.
3. Use the principle of WDM to transmit two audio signals on one fiber.
4. Introduce the concept of cross talk.
5. Measure system losses and tabulate power budget.

Distortion measurements in DWDM communication systems.

Experiment 9: Fiber Optic Communication System II
Objectives: Investigate source nonlinear distortions and clipping.

Experiment 10: Multi-mode Intensity Sensors
Objectives: Investigate examples of sensors which exploit the optical properties and light-guiding capabilities of multimode fibers.

Experiment 11: Single-Mode Interferometric Sensors
Objectives:  Investigate examples of sensors which exploit the phase changes caused by a variety of physical parameters on the single mode fiber itself.