Fiber Optics for Engineering Physics

Fiber Optics for Engineering Physics:

An optical fiber or optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair.

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Manufacturing of Optical Fiber:

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Fig. 1. Manufacturing of Optical Fiber

Optical fibers typically include a transparent core surrounded by a transparent cladding material with a lower index of refraction. Light is kept in the core by the phenomenon of total internal reflection which causes the fiber to act as a wave guide.  Fibers that support many propagation paths or transverse modes are called multi-mode fibers (MMF), while those that support a single mode are called single-mode fibers (SMF). Multi-mode fibers generally have a wider core diameter and are used for short-distance communication links and for applications where high power must be transmitted. Single-mode fibers are used for most communication links longer than 1,000 meters (3,300 ft).

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Fig. 2. Optical Communication system

Uses of Optical Fiber:

Optical fibers are used most often as a means to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber and find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at higher bandwidths (data rates) than wire cables. Fibers are used instead of metal wires because signals travel along them with lesser amounts of loss.

Advantages of Optical Fiber:

Fiber optics has several advantages over traditional metal communications lines:

  • Fiber optic cables have a much greater bandwidth than metal cables. This means that they can carry more data.
  • Fiber-optic cables are less susceptible than metal cables to interference.
  • Fiber optic cables are much thinner and lighter than metal wires.
  • Data can be transmitted digitally (the natural form for  computer data) rather than analogically.
  • fibers are also immune to electromagnetic interference, a problem from which metal wires suffer excessively.
  • Disadvantage:

    The main disadvantage of fiber optics is that the cables are expensive to install. In addition, they are more fragile than wire and are difficult to splice.

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