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A TOSLINK ber optic audio cable with red light being shone in
one end transmits the light to the other end
An optical ber (or optical bre) is a exible, transparent ber made of extruded glass (silica) or plastic,
slightly thicker than a human hair. It can function as a
waveguide, or light pipe,[1] to transmit light between the
two ends of the ber.[2] The eld of applied science and
Optical bers are widely used in ber-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 less loss and are also immune
1
HISTORY
History
Daniel Colladon rst described this light fountain or light pipe
in an 1842 article titled On the reections of a ray of light inside
a parabolic liquid stream. This particular illustration comes from
a later article by Colladon, in 1884.
3
ington, D.C., to transmit voice signals over an optical
beam.[9] It was an advanced form of telecommunications,
but subject to atmospheric interferences and impractical
until the secure transport of light that would be oered
by ber-optical systems. In the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, light was guided through bent glass rods to illuminate body cavities.[10] Jun-ichi Nishizawa, a Japanese
scientist at Tohoku University, also proposed the use
of optical bers for communications in 1963, as stated
in his book published in 2004 in India.[11] Nishizawa
invented other technologies that contributed to the development of optical ber communications, such as the
graded-index optical ber as a channel for transmitting
light from semiconductor lasers.[12][13] The rst working
ber-optical data transmission system was demonstrated
by German physicist Manfred Brner at Telefunken Research Labs in Ulm in 1965, which was followed by the
rst patent application for this technology in 1966.[14][15]
Charles K. Kao and George A. Hockham of the British
company Standard Telephones and Cables (STC) were
the rst to promote the idea that the attenuation in optical bers could be reduced below 20 decibels per kilometer (dB/km), making bers a practical communication medium.[16] They proposed that the attenuation in
bers available at the time was caused by impurities that
could be removed, rather than by fundamental physical
eects such as scattering. They correctly and systematically theorized the light-loss properties for optical ber,
and pointed out the right material to use for such bers
silica glass with high purity. This discovery earned Kao
the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009.[17]
NASA used ber optics in the television cameras that
were sent to the moon. At the time, the use in the cameras was classied condential, and only those with sufcient security clearance or those accompanied by someone with the right security clearance were permitted to
handle the cameras.[18]
2 Uses
2.1 Communication
Main article: Fiber-optic communication
Optical ber can be used as a medium for telecommunication and computer networking because it is exible and
can be bundled as cables. It is especially advantageous for
long-distance communications, because light propagates
through the ber with little attenuation compared to electrical cables. This allows long distances to be spanned
with few repeaters.
The per-channel light signals propagating in the ber have
been modulated at rates as high as 111 gigabits per second
(Gbit/s) by NTT,[23][24] although 10 or 40 Gbit/s is typical in deployed systems.[25][26] In June 2013, researchers
demonstrated transmission of 400 Gbit/s over a single
channel using 4-mode orbital angular momentum multiplexing.[27]
Each ber can carry many independent channels, each using a dierent wavelength of light (wavelength-division
multiplexing (WDM)). The net data rate (data rate without overhead bytes) per ber is the per-channel data rate
reduced by the FEC overhead, multiplied by the number of channels (usually up to eighty in commercial dense
WDM systems as of 2008). As of 2011 the record for
bandwidth on a single core was 101 Tbit/s (370 channels at 273 Gbit/s each).[28] The record for a multi-core
ber as of January 2013 was 1.05 petabits per second.
[29]
In 2009, Bell Labs broke the 100 (petabit per second)kilometer barrier (15.5 Tbit/s over a single 7000
km ber).[30]
USES
2.2
Sensors
Fibers have many uses in remote sensing. In some ap- Optical ber can be used to transmit power using a
plications, the sensor is itself an optical ber. In other photovoltaic cell to convert the light into electricity.[33]
2.4
Other uses
While this method of power transmission is not as ecient as conventional ones, it is especially useful in situations where it is desirable not to have a metallic conductor
as in the case of use near MRI machines, which produce
strong magnetic elds.[34] Other examples are for powering electronics in high-powered antenna elements and
measurement devices used in high-voltage transmission
equipment.
2.4
5
(see nonimaging optics). Optical ber lamps are used for
illumination in decorative applications, including signs,
art, toys and articial Christmas trees. Swarovski boutiques use optical bers to illuminate their crystal showcases from many dierent angles while only employing
one light source. Optical ber is an intrinsic part of the
light-transmitting concrete building product, LiTraCon.
Other uses
3 PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
investigation.[38] Conversely, ber nonlinearity can have and New York, a 16,000-kilometer distance, means that
deleterious eects on optical signals, and measures are there is a minimum delay of 80 milliseconds (about 1/12
often required to minimize such unwanted eects.
of a second) between when one caller speaks to when the
Optical bers doped with a wavelength shifter collect other hears. (The ber in this case will probably travel
a longer route, and there will be additional delays due to
scintillation light in physics experiments.
communication equipment switching and the process of
Fiber optic sights for handguns, ries, and shotguns use encoding and decoding the voice onto the ber).
pieces of optical ber to improve visibility of markings
on the sight.
Principle of operation
Index of refraction
Acceptance
cone
Core
Cladding
3.4
Single-mode ber
7
prole is very close to a parabolic relationship between
the index and the distance from the axis.
A laser bouncing down an acrylic rod, illustrating the total internal reection of light in a multi-mode optical ber.
Fiber with a core diameter less than about ten times the
wavelength of the propagating light cannot be modeled
using geometric optics. Instead, it must be analyzed as
an electromagnetic structure, by solution of Maxwells
equations as reduced to the electromagnetic wave equation. The electromagnetic analysis may also be required
to understand behaviors such as speckle that occur when
Step index fiber
coherent light propagates in multi-mode ber. As an optical waveguide, the ber supports one or more conned
transverse modes by which light can propagate along the
Graded index fiber
ber. Fiber supporting only one mode is called singlemode or mono-mode ber. The behavior of larger-core
multi-mode ber can also be modeled using the wave
Singlemode fiber
equation, which shows that such ber supports more than
one mode of propagation (hence the name). The reOptical ber types.
sults of such modeling of multi-mode ber approximately
agree with the predictions of geometric optics, if the ber
In graded-index ber, the index of refraction in the core core is large enough to support more than a few modes.
decreases continuously between the axis and the cladding.
This causes light rays to bend smoothly as they approach The waveguide analysis shows that the light energy in the
the cladding, rather than reecting abruptly from the ber is not completely conned in the core. Instead, especore-cladding boundary. The resulting curved paths re- cially in single-mode bers, a signicant fraction of the
duce multi-path dispersion because high angle rays pass energy in the bound mode travels in the cladding as an
more through the lower-index periphery of the core, evanescent wave.
rather than the high-index center. The index prole is The most common type of single-mode ber has a core
chosen to minimize the dierence in axial propagation diameter of 810 micrometers and is designed for use
speeds of the various rays in the ber. This ideal index in the near infrared. The mode structure depends on the
Index of refraction
380m
200m
50-100
m
125m
-10m
125m
Input pulse
Output pulse
4 MECHANISMS OF ATTENUATION
maximizing the amplication of the optical signal. Empirical research has shown that attenuation in optical ber
is caused primarily by both scattering and absorption.
Single-mode optical bers can be made with extremely
low loss. Cornings SMF-28 ber, a standard single-mode
ber for telecommunications wavelengths, has a loss of
0.17 dB/km at 1550 nm.[40] For example, an 8 km length
of SMF-28 transmits nearly 75% of light at 1550 nm. It
has been noted that if ocean water was as clear as ber,
3.5 Special-purpose ber
one could see all the way to the bottom even of the Marianas Trench in the Pacic Ocean, a depth of 36,000
Some special-purpose optical ber is constructed with a feet.[41]
non-cylindrical core and/or cladding layer, usually with
an elliptical or rectangular cross-section. These include
polarization-maintaining ber and ber designed to sup- 4.1 Light scattering
press whispering gallery mode propagation. Polarizationmaintaining ber is a unique type of ber that is commirror
monly used in ber optic sensors due to its ability to maintain the polarization of the light inserted into it.
Photonic-crystal ber is made with a regular pattern of
index variation (often in the form of cylindrical holes
that run along the length of the ber). Such ber uses
diraction eects instead of or in addition to total internal reection, to conne light to the bers core. The
properties of the ber can be tailored to a wide variety of
applications.
normal
Mechanisms of attenuation
Specular reection
9
ber is based on total internal reection of the lightwave.
Rough and irregular surfaces, even at the molecular level,
can cause light rays to be reected in random directions.
This is called diuse reection or scattering, and it is typically characterized by wide variety of reection angles.
4.2
UV-Vis-IR absorption
5 Manufacturing
10
5 MANUFACTURING
5.1.1
Silica
Phosphate glass constitutes a class of optical glasses composed of metaphosphates of various metals. Instead of
the SiO4 tetrahedra observed in silicate glasses, the building block for this glass former is phosphorus pentoxSilica ber also exhibits a high threshold for optical dam- ide (P2 O5 ), which crystallizes in at least four dierent
age. This property ensures a low tendency for laser- forms. The most familiar polymorph (see gure) cominduced breakdown. This is important for ber ampliers prises molecules of P4 O10 .
when utilized for the amplication of short pulses.
Phosphate glasses can be advantageous over silica glasses
Because of these properties silica bers are the ma- for optical bers with a high concentration of doping rare
terial of choice in many optical applications, such as earth ions. A mix of uoride glass and phosphate glass is
communications (except for very short distances with uorophosphate glass.[56][57]
5.2
Process
11
Soot
Reaction Zone
Gas mixture
e.g.
SiCl4, GeCl4
O2, He
Tube rotation
Depositing
particles
Traversing high
temperature torch
M
SiCl4
Mixing
valves
O2 H2
GeCl4
M
He
The P4 O10 cagelike structurethe basic building block for phosphate glass.
5.1.4
Chalcogenide glass
5.2
Process
5.2.1
Preform
O2
POCl 3
or
SF6
12
PRACTICAL ISSUES
layer coating approach. An inner primary coating is designed to act as a shock absorber to minimize attenuation caused by microbending. An outer secondary coating protects the primary coating against mechanical damage and acts as a barrier to lateral forces. Sometimes a
metallic armor layer is added to provide extra protection.
These ber optic coating layers are applied during the
ber draw, at speeds approaching 100 kilometers per
hour (60 mph). Fiber optic coatings are applied using
one of two methods: wet-on-dry and wet-on-wet. In weton-dry, the ber passes through a primary coating application, which is then UV curedthen through the secondary coating application, which is subsequently cured.
In wet-on-wet, the ber passes through both the primary
and secondary coating applications, then goes to UV curing.
Fiber optic coatings are applied in concentric layers to
prevent damage to the ber during the drawing appliCross-section of a ber drawn from a D-shaped preform
cation and to maximize ber strength and microbend
resistance. Unevenly coated ber will experience nonuniform forces when the coating expands or contracts,
laser pumping.
and is susceptible to greater signal attenuation. Under
Because of the surface tension, the shape is smoothed proper drawing and coating processes, the coatings are
during the drawing process, and the shape of the resulting concentric around the ber, continuous over the length
ber does not reproduce the sharp edges of the preform. of the application and have constant thickness.
Nevertheless, careful polishing of the preform is important, since any defects of the preform surface aect the Fiber optic coatings protect the glass bers from scratches
optical and mechanical properties of the resulting ber. that could lead to strength degradation. The combination
In particular, the preform for the test-ber shown in the of moisture and scratches accelerates the aging and detegure was not polished well, and cracks are seen with the rioration of ber strength. When ber is subjected to low
stresses over a long period, ber fatigue can occur. Over
confocal optical microscope.
time or in extreme conditions, these factors combine to
cause microscopic aws in the glass ber to propagate,
which can ultimately result in ber failure.
5.2.2 Drawing
The preform, however constructed, is placed in a device known as a drawing tower, where the preform tip
is heated and the optical ber is pulled out as a string.
By measuring the resultant ber width, the tension on the
ber can be controlled to maintain the ber thickness.
5.3
Coatings
6 Practical issues
6.1 Cable construction
Main article: Optical ber cable
6.2
13
6.2
form a continuous optical waveguide. The generally accepted splicing method is arc fusion splicing, which melts
the ber ends together with an electric arc. For quicker
fastening jobs, a mechanical splice is used.
Fusion splicing is done with a specialized instrument that
typically operates as follows: The two cable ends are
fastened inside a splice enclosure that will protect the
splices, and the ber ends are stripped of their protective polymer coating (as well as the more sturdy outer
jacket, if present). The ends are cleaved (cut) with a
precision cleaver to make them perpendicular, and are
placed into special holders in the splicer. The splice is
usually inspected via a magnied viewing screen to check
the cleaves before and after the splice. The splicer uses
small motors to align the end faces together, and emits a
small spark between electrodes at the gap to burn o dust
and moisture. Then the splicer generates a larger spark
that raises the temperature above the melting point of the
glass, fusing the ends together permanently. The location and energy of the spark is carefully controlled so that
the molten core and cladding do not mix, and this minimizes optical loss. A splice loss estimate is measured by
the splicer, by directing light through the cladding on one
side and measuring the light leaking from the cladding
on the other side. A splice loss under 0.1 dB is typical.
The complexity of this process makes ber splicing much
more dicult than splicing copper wire.
14
7 SEE ALSO
7 See also
Borescope
Cable jetting
Data cable
6.3
Free-space coupling