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Optical fiber
communications, which permits transmission
over longer distances and at higher band-
widths (data rates) than other forms of com-
munications. Fibers are used instead of metal
wires because signals travel along them with
less loss, and they are also immune to elec-
tromagnetic interference. Fibers are also
used for illumination, and are wrapped in
bundles so they can be used to carry images,
thus allowing viewing in tight spaces. Spe-
cially designed fibers are used for a variety of
other applications, including sensors and
fiber lasers.
Light is kept in the core of the optical
fiber by total internal reflection. This causes
the fiber to act as a waveguide. Fibers which
support many propagation paths or trans-
verse modes are called multi-mode fibers
(MMF), while those which can only support a
single mode are called single-mode fibers
(SMF). Multi-mode fibers generally have a
larger core diameter, and are used for short-
distance communication links and for applic-
ations where high power must be
transmitted. Single-mode fibers are used for
most communication links longer than
550 metres (1,800 ft).
A bundle of optical fibers Joining lengths of optical fiber is more
complex than joining electrical wire or cable.
The ends of the fibers must be carefully
cleaved, and then spliced together either
mechanically or by fusing them together with
an electric arc. Special connectors are used
to make removable connections.
History
Fiber optics, though used extensively in the
modern world, is a fairly simple and old tech-
nology. Guiding of light by refraction, the
principle that makes fiber optics possible,
A TOSLINK fiber optic audio cable being illu- was first demonstrated by Daniel Colladon
minated on one end and Jacques Babinet in Paris in the early
1840s. John Tyndall included a demonstra-
An optical fiber (or fibre) is a glass or tion of it in his public lectures in London a
plastic fiber that carries light along its dozen years later.[1] Tyndall also wrote about
length. Fiber optics is the overlap of applied the property of total internal reflection in an
science and engineering concerned with the introductory book about the nature of light in
design and application of optical fibers. 1870: "When the light passes from air into
Optical fibers are widely used in fiber-optic water, the refracted ray is bent towards the
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Attenuations in modern optical cables are Over short distances, such as networking
far less than those in electrical copper within a building, fiber saves space in cable
cables, leading to long-haul fiber connections ducts because a single fiber can carry much
with repeater distances of 5080 kilometres more data than a single electrical cable.
(3150 mi). The erbium-doped fiber amplifier, Fiber is also immune to electrical interfer-
which reduced the cost of long-distance fiber ence; there is no cross-talk between signals
systems by reducing or even in many cases in different cables and no pickup of environ-
eliminating the need for optical-electrical-op- mental noise. Non-armored fiber cables do
tical repeaters, was co-developed by teams not conduct electricity, which makes fiber a
led by David N. Payne of the University of good solution for protecting communications
Southampton, and Emmanuel Desurvire at equipment located in high voltage environ-
Bell Laboratories in 1986. The more robust ments such as power generation facilities, or
optical fiber commonly used today utilizes metal communication structures prone to
glass for both core and sheath and is there- lightning strikes. They can also be used in en-
fore less prone to aging processes. It was in- vironments where explosive fumes are
vented by Gerhard Bernsee in 1973 of Schott present, without danger of ignition. Wiretap-
Glass in Germany.[9] ping is more difficult compared to electrical
In 1991, the emerging field of photonic connections, and there are concentric dual
crystals led to the development of photonic- core fibers that are said to be tap-proof.
crystal fiber[10] which guides light by means Although fibers can be made out of trans-
of diffraction from a periodic structure, parent plastic, glass, or a combination of the
rather than total internal reflection. The first two, the fibers used in long-distance telecom-
photonic crystal fibers became commercially munications applications are always glass,
available in 2000.[11] Photonic crystal fibers because of the lower optical attenuation.
can be designed to carry higher power than Both multi-mode and single-mode fibers are
conventional fiber, and their wavelength de- used in communications, with multi-mode
pendent properties can be manipulated to im- fiber used mostly for short distances, up to
prove their performance in certain 550 m (600 yards), and single-mode fiber
applications. used for longer distance links. Because of the
tighter tolerances required to couple light in-
Applications to and between single-mode fibers (core dia-
meter about 10 micrometers), single-mode
transmitters, receivers, amplifiers and other
Optical fiber communication components are generally more expensive
Optical fiber can be used as a medium for than multi-mode components.
telecommunication and networking because Examples of applications are TOSLINK,
it is flexible and can be bundled as cables. It Fiber distributed data interface, Synchronous
is especially advantageous for long-distance optical networking.
communications, because light propagates
through the fiber with little attenuation com- Fiber optic sensors
pared to electrical cables. This allows long Fibers have many uses in remote sensing. In
distances to be spanned with few repeaters. some applications, the sensor is itself an op-
Additionally, the per-channel light signals tical fiber. In other cases, fiber is used to
propagating in the fiber can be modulated at connect a non-fiberoptic sensor to a measure-
rates as high as 111 gigabits per second,[12] ment system. Depending on the application,
although 10 or 40 Gb/s is typical in deployed fiber may be used because of its small size,
systems. Each fiber can carry many inde- or the fact that no electrical power is needed
pendent channels, each using a different at the remote location, or because many
wavelength of light (wavelength-division mul- sensors can be multiplexed along the length
tiplexing (WDM)). The net data rate (data of a fiber by using different wavelengths of
rate without overhead bytes) per fiber is the light for each sensor, or by sensing the time
per-channel data rate reduced by the FEC delay as light passes along the fiber through
overhead, multiplied by the number of chan- each sensor. Time delay can be determined
nels (usually up to eighty in commercial using a device such as an optical time-do-
dense WDM systems as of 2008). main reflectometer.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Optical fiber
Optical fibers can be used as sensors to including signs, art, and artificial Christmas
measure strain, temperature, pressure and trees. Swarovski boutiques use optical fibers
other quantities by modifying a fiber so that to illuminate their crystal showcases from
the quantity to be measured modulates the many different angles while only employing
intensity, phase, polarization, wavelength or one light source. Optical fiber is an intrinsic
transit time of light in the fiber. Sensors that part of the light-transmitting concrete build-
vary the intensity of light are the simplest, ing product, LiTraCon.
since only a simple source and detector are Optical fiber is also used in imaging op-
required. A particularly useful feature of such tics. A coherent bundle of fibers is used,
fiber optic sensors is that they can, if re- sometimes along with lenses, for a long, thin
quired, provide distributed sensing over dis- imaging device called an endoscope, which is
tances of up to one meter. used to view objects through a small hole.
Extrinsic fiber optic sensors use an optical Medical endoscopes are used for minimally
fiber cable, normally a multi-mode one, to invasive exploratory or surgical procedures
transmit modulated light from either a non- (endoscopy). Industrial endoscopes (see
fiber optical sensor, or an electronic sensor fiberscope or borescope) are used for in-
connected to an optical transmitter. A major specting anything hard to reach, such as jet
benefit of extrinsic sensors is their ability to engine interiors.
reach places which are otherwise inaccess- In spectroscopy, optical fiber bundles are
ible. An example is the measurement of tem- used to transmit light from a spectrometer to
perature inside aircraft jet engines by using a a substance which cannot be placed inside
fiber to transmit radiation into a radiation the spectrometer itself, in order to analyze its
pyrometer located outside the engine. Ex- composition. A spectrometer analyzes sub-
trinsic sensors can also be used in the same stances by bouncing light off of and through
way to measure the internal temperature of them. By using fibers, a spectrometer can be
electrical transformers, where the extreme used to study objects that are too large to fit
electromagnetic fields present make other inside, or gasses, or reactions which occur in
measurement techniques impossible. Extrins- pressure vessels.[13][14][15]
ic sensors are used to measure vibration, ro- An optical fiber doped with certain rare-
tation, displacement, velocity, acceleration, earth elements such as erbium can be used
torque, and twisting. as the gain medium of a laser or optical
amplifier. Rare-earth doped optical fibers can
Other uses of optical fibers be used to provide signal amplification by
splicing a short section of doped fiber into a
regular (undoped) optical fiber line. The
doped fiber is optically pumped with a
second laser wavelength that is coupled into
the line in addition to the signal wave. Both
wavelengths of light are transmitted through
the doped fiber, which transfers energy from
the second pump wavelength to the signal
wave. The process that causes the amplifica-
tion is stimulated emission.
Optical fibers doped with a wavelength
shifter are used to collect scintillation light in
A frisbee illuminated by fiber optics physics experiments.
Optical fiber can be used to supply a low
Fibers are widely used in illumination applic- level of power (around one watt) to electron-
ations. They are used as light guides in med- ics situated in a difficult electrical environ-
ical and other applications where bright light ment. Examples of this are electronics in
needs to be shone on a target without a clear high-powered antenna elements and meas-
line-of-sight path. In some buildings, optical urement devices used in high voltage trans-
fibers are used to route sunlight from the mission equipment.
roof to other parts of the building (see non-
imaging optics). Optical fiber illumination is
also used for decorative applications,
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Optical fiber
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Optical fiber
additional modes at visible wavelengths. glass, can cause light rays to be reflected in
Multi-mode fiber, by comparison, is manufac- many random directions. We refer to this
tured with core diameters as small as 50 mi- type of reflection as diffuse reflection, and
crometers and as large as hundreds of micro- it is typically characterized by wide variety of
metres. The normalized frequency V for this reflection angles. Most of the objects that
fiber should be less than the first zero of the you see with the naked eye are visible due to
Bessel function J0 (approximately 2.405). diffuse reflection. Another term commonly
used for this type of reflection is light scat-
Special-purpose fiber tering. Light scattering from the surfaces of
Some special-purpose optical fiber is con- objects is our primary mechanism of physical
structed with a non-cylindrical core and/or observation. [16] [17]
cladding layer, usually with an elliptical or
rectangular cross-section. These include
polarization-maintaining fiber and fiber de-
signed to suppress whispering gallery mode
propagation.
Photonic crystal fiber is made with a regu-
lar pattern of index variation (often in the
form of cylindrical holes that run along the
length of the fiber). Such fiber uses diffrac-
tion effects instead of or in addition to total
internal reflection, to confine light to the
fibers core. The properties of the fiber can
be tailored to a wide variety of applications.
Mechanisms of
attenuation
Main article: Transparent materials
Attenuation in fiber optics, also known as
transmission loss, is the reduction in intens-
ity of the light beam (or signal) with respect
to distance travelled through a transmission Specular Reflection
medium. Attenuation coefficients in fiber op-
tics usually use units of dB/km through the
medium due to the relatively high quality of
transparency of modern optical transmission
media. The medium is typically usually a
fiber of silica glass that confines the incident
light beam to the inside. Attenuation is an im-
portant factor limiting the transmission of a
digital signal across large distances. Thus,
much research has gone into both limiting
the attenuation and maximizing the amplific-
ation of the optical signal. Empirical research
has shown that attenuation in optical fiber is
caused primarily by both scattering and
absorption.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Optical fiber
the physical dimension (or spatial scale) of 2) At the atomic or molecular level, it de-
the scattering center, which is typically in the pends on the frequencies of atomic or mo-
form of some specific microstuctural feature. lecular vibrations or chemical bonds, how
Since visible light has a wavelength of the or- close-packed its atoms or molecules are, and
der of one micron (one millionth of a meter) whether or not the atoms or molecules
scattering centers will have dimensions on a exhibit long-range order. These factors will
similar spatial scale. determine the capacity of the material trans-
Thus, attenuation results from the inco- mitting longer wavelengths in the infrared
herent scattering of light at internal surfaces (IR), far IR, radio and microwave ranges.
and interfaces. In (poly)crystalline materials The design of any optically transparent
such as metals and ceramics, in addition to device requires the selection of materials
pores, most of the internal surfaces or inter- based upon knowledge of its properties and
faces are in the form of grain boundaries that limitations. The lattice absorption character-
separate tiny regions of crystalline order. It istics observed at the lower frequency re-
has recently been shown that when the size gions (mid IR to far-infrared wavelength
of the scattering center (or grain boundary) range) define the long-wavelength transpar-
is reduced below the size of the wavelength ency limit of the material. They are the result
of the light being scattered, the scattering no of the interactive coupling between the mo-
longer occurs to any significant extent. This tions of thermally induced vibrations of the
phenomenon has given rise to the production constituent atoms and molecules of the solid
of transparent ceramic materials. lattice and the incident light wave radiation.
Similarly, the scattering of light in optical Hence, all materials are bounded by limiting
quality glass fiber is caused by molecular regions of absorption caused by atomic and
level irregularities (compositional fluctu- molecular vibrations (bond-stretching)in the
ations) in the glass structure. Indeed, one far-infrared (>10 m).
emerging school of thought is that a glass is
simply the limting case of a polycrystalline
solid. Within this framework, "domains" ex-
hibiting various degress of short-range order
become the building blocks of both metals
and alloys, as well as glasses and ceramics.
Distributed both between and within these
domains are microstructural defects which
will provide the most ideal locations for the
occurrence of light scattering. This same
phenomenon is seen as one of the limiting
factors in the tranparency of IR missile
domes. [18]
See Physics of glass
UV-Vis-IR absorption
In addition to light scattering, attenuation or
signal loss can also occur due to selective ab-
sorption of specific wavelengths, in a manner Normal modes of vibration in a crystalline
similar to that responsible for the appearance solid.
of color. Primary material considerations in-
clude both electrons and molecules as Thus, multi-phonon absorption occurs
follows: when two or more phonons simultaneously
1) At the electronic level, it depends on interact to produce electric dipole moments
whether the electron orbitals are spaced (or with which the incident radiation may couple.
"quantized") such that they can absorb a These dipoles can absorb energy from the in-
quantum of light (or photon) of a specific cident radiation, reaching a maximum coup-
wavelength or frequency in the ultraviolet ling with the radiation when the frequency is
(UV) or visible ranges. This is what gives rise equal to the fundamental vibrational mode of
to color.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Optical fiber
Manufacturing
Materials Illustration of the modified chemical vapor
deposition (inside) process
Glass optical fibers are almost always made
from silica, but some other materials, such as
with oxygen in the end of the tube. The gases
fluorozirconate, fluoroaluminate, and chalco-
are then heated by means of an external hy-
genide glasses, are used for longer-
drogen burner, bringing the temperature of
wavelength infrared applications. Like other
the gas up to 1900 K (1600 C, 3000 F),
glasses, these glasses have a refractive index
where the tetrachlorides react with oxygen to
of about 1.5. Typically the difference between
produce silica or germania (germanium diox-
core and cladding is less than one percent.
ide) particles. When the reaction conditions
Plastic optical fibers (POF) are commonly
are chosen to allow this reaction to occur in
step-index multi-mode fibers with a core dia-
the gas phase throughout the tube volume, in
meter of 0.5 millimeters or larger. POF typic-
contrast to earlier techniques where the re-
ally have higher attenuation co-efficients
action occurred only on the glass surface,
than glass fibers, 1 dB/m or higher, and this
this technique is called modified chemical va-
high attenuation limits the range of POF-
por deposition.
based systems.
The oxide particles then agglomerate to
form large particle chains, which sub-
Process sequently deposit on the walls of the tube as
Standard optical fibers are made by first con- soot. The deposition is due to the large differ-
structing a large-diameter preform, with a ence in temperature between the gas core
carefully controlled refractive index profile, and the wall causing the gas to push the
and then pulling the preform to form the particles outwards (this is known as thermo-
long, thin optical fiber. The preform is com- phoresis). The torch is then traversed up and
monly made by three chemical vapor depos- down the length of the tube to deposit the
ition methods: inside vapor deposition, out- material evenly. After the torch has reached
side vapor deposition, and vapor axial depos- the end of the tube, it is then brought back to
ition.[19] the beginning of the tube and the deposited
With inside vapor deposition, the preform particles are then melted to form a solid lay-
starts as a hollow glass tube approximately er. This process is repeated until a sufficient
40 centimetres (16 in) long, which is placed amount of material has been deposited. For
horizontally and rotated slowly on a lathe. each layer the composition can be modified
Gases such as silicon tetrachloride (SiCl4) or by varying the gas composition, resulting in
germanium tetrachloride (GeCl4) are injected
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Optical fiber
precise control of the finished fibers optical the cable is bent around corners or wound
properties. around a spool, making FTTX installations
In outside vapor deposition or vapor axial more complicated. "Bendable fibers", tar-
deposition, the glass is formed by flame hy- geted towards easier installation in home en-
drolysis, a reaction in which silicon tetra- vironments, have been standardized as ITU-T
chloride and germanium tetrachloride are ox- G.657. This type of fiber can be bent with a
idized by reaction with water (H2O) in an radius as low as 7.5 mm without adverse im-
oxyhydrogen flame. In outside vapor depos- pact. Even more bendable fibers have been
ition the glass is deposited onto a solid rod, developed.[23] Bendable fiber may also be
which is removed before further processing. resistant to fiber hacking, in which the signal
In vapor axial deposition, a short seed rod is in a fiber is surreptitiously monitored by
used, and a porous preform, whose length is bending the fiber and detecting the leak-
not limited by the size of the source rod, is age.[24]
built up on its end. The porous preform is
consolidated into a transparent, solid pre- Termination and splicing
form by heating to about 1800 K (1500 C,
2800 F).
The preform, however constructed, is then
placed in a device known as a drawing tower,
where the preform tip is heated and the optic
fiber is pulled out as a string. By measuring
the resultant fiber width, the tension on the
fiber can be controlled to maintain the fiber
thickness.
Practical issues
Optical fiber cables
In practical fibers, the cladding is usually ST connectors on multi-mode fiber.
coated with a tough resin buffer layer, which
may be further surrounded by a jacket layer, Optical fibers are connected to terminal
usually plastic. These layers add strength to equipment by optical fiber connectors. These
the fiber but do not contribute to its optical connectors are usually of a standard type
wave guide properties. Rigid fiber assemblies such as FC, SC, ST, LC, or MTRJ.
sometimes put light-absorbing ("dark") glass Optical fibers may be connected to each
between the fibers, to prevent light that leaks other by connectors or by splicing, that is,
out of one fiber from entering another. This joining two fibers together to form a continu-
reduces cross-talk between the fibers, or re- ous optical waveguide. The generally accep-
duces flare in fiber bundle imaging applica- ted splicing method is arc fusion splicing,
tions.[20][21] which melts the fiber ends together with an
Modern cables come in a wide variety of electric arc. For quicker fastening jobs, a
sheathings and armor, designed for applica- "mechanical splice" is used.
tions such as direct burial in trenches, high Fusion splicing is done with a specialized
voltage isolation, dual use as power lines,[22] instrument that typically operates as follows:
installation in conduit, lashing to aerial tele- The two cable ends are fastened inside a
phone poles, submarine installation, and in- splice enclosure that will protect the splices,
sertion in paved streets. The cost of small and the fiber ends are stripped of their pro-
fiber-count pole-mounted cables has greatly tective polymer coating (as well as the more
decreased due to the high Japanese and sturdy outer jacket, if present). The ends are
South Korean demand for fiber to the home cleaved (cut) with a precision cleaver to
(FTTH) installations. make them perpendicular, and are placed in-
Fiber cable can be very flexible, but tradi- to special holders in the splicer. The splice is
tional fibers loss increases greatly if the usually inspected via a magnified viewing
fiber is bent with a radius smaller than screen to check the cleaves before and after
around 30 mm. This creates a problem when the splice. The splicer uses small motors to
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Optical fiber
align the end faces together, and emits a angled surface leaks out of the fiber core; the
small spark between electrodes at the gap to resulting loss in signal strength is known as
burn off dust and moisture. Then the splicer gap loss. APC fiber ends have low back re-
generates a larger spark that raises the tem- flection even when disconnected.
perature above the melting point of the glass,
fusing the ends together permanently. The Free-space coupling
location and energy of the spark is carefully It often becomes necessary to align an optical
controlled so that the molten core and clad- fiber with another optical fiber or an optical
ding dont mix, and this minimizes optical device such as a light-emitting diode, a laser
loss. A splice loss estimate is measured by diode, or an optoelectronic device such as a
the splicer, by directing light through the modulator. This can involve either carefully
cladding on one side and measuring the light aligning the fiber and placing it in contact
leaking from the cladding on the other side. with the device to which it is to couple, or
A splice loss under 0.1 dB is typical. The com- can use a lens to allow coupling over an air
plexity of this process makes fiber splicing gap. In some cases the end of the fiber is pol-
much more difficult than splicing copper ished into a curved form that is designed to
wire. allow it to act as a lens.
Mechanical fiber splices are designed to In a laboratory environment, the fiber end
be quicker and easier to install, but there is is usually aligned to the device or other fiber
still the need for stripping, careful cleaning with a fiber launch system that uses a micro-
and precision cleaving. The fiber ends are scope objective lens to focus the light down
aligned and held together by a precision- to a fine point. A precision translation stage
made sleeve, often using a clear index-match- (micro-positioning table) is used to move the
ing gel that enhances the transmission of lens, fiber, or device to allow the coupling ef-
light across the joint. Such joints typically ficiency to be optimized.
have higher optical loss and are less robust
than fusion splices, especially if the gel is Fiber fuse
used. All splicing techniques involve the use
At high optical intensities, above 2 mega-
of an enclosure into which the splice is
watts per square centimeter, when a fiber is
placed for protection afterward.
subjected to a shock or is otherwise suddenly
Fibers are terminated in connectors so
damaged, a fiber fuse can occur. The reflec-
that the fiber end is held at the end face pre-
tion from the damage vaporizes the fiber im-
cisely and securely. A fiber-optic connector is
mediately before the break, and this new de-
basically a rigid cylindrical barrel surrounded
fect remains reflective so that the damage
by a sleeve that holds the barrel in its mating
propagates back toward the transmitter at
socket. The mating mechanism can be "push
13 meters per second (411 km/h,
and click", "turn and latch" ("bayonet"), or
28 mph).[25][26] The open fiber control sys-
screw-in (threaded). A typical connector is in-
tem, which ensures laser eye safety in the
stalled by preparing the fiber end and insert-
event of a broken fiber, can also effectively
ing it into the rear of the connector body.
halt propagation of the fiber fuse.[27] In situ-
Quick-set adhesive is usually used so the
ations, such as undersea cables, where high
fiber is held securely, and a strain relief is se-
power levels might be used without the need
cured to the rear. Once the adhesive has set,
for open fiber control, a "fiber fuse" protec-
the fibers end is polished to a mirror finish.
tion device at the transmitter can break the
Various polish profiles are used, depending
circuit to prevent any damage.
on the type of fiber and the application. For
single-mode fiber, the fiber ends are typically
polished with a slight curvature, such that See also
when the connectors are mated the fibers
Submarine communications cables
touch only at their cores. This is known as a
Optical communication
"physical contact" (PC) polish. The curved
Optical fiber connector
surface may be polished at an angle, to make
Transparent materials
an "angled physical contact" (APC) connec-
Gradient index optics
tion. Such connections have higher loss than
Fiber Bragg grating
PC connections, but greatly reduced back re-
Strength of glass
flection, because light that reflects from the
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References
Gambling, W. A., "The Rise and Rise of
Optical Fibers", IEEE Journal on Selected
Categories: Optical fiber, Fiber optics, Telecommunications equipment, Glass forming, Glass
engineering and science
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