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	Fiber Optics

Fiber Optics

If you hear very clear voice over your telephone or see clear pictures, it is not just due to the quality telephone or televisions alone. The crystal clear sounds and images are due to the optical fibers that carry the information through light.

What are fiber optics?

Fiber optics or optical fibers (optical fibers) are long, thin strands of very pure glass about the diameter of a human hair. They are arranged in bundles called optical cables and used to transmit light signals over long distances

The process of communicating using fiber-optics involves the following basic steps:

a)	Creating the optical signal using a transmitter
b)	Relaying the signal along the fiber, ensuring that the signal does not become too distorted or weak
c)	Receiving the optical signal and converting it into an electrical signal

Even though fiber optics were being considered for transmitting information, the first transatlantic telephone cable to use optical fiber was TAT-8 in the year 1988.

Parts of Fiber optics

The single optical fiber has the following parts

A core - Thin glass center of the fiber where the light travels

Cladding - Outer optical material surrounding the core that reflects the light back into the core

Buffer coating - Plastic coating that protects the fiber from damage and moisture

Hundreds or thousands of these optical fibers are arranged in bundles in optical cables. The bundles are protected by the cable's outer covering, called a jacket.

Optical fibers come in two types:

Single-mode fibers
Multi-mode fibers

Some optical fibers can be made from plastic. These fibers have a large core (0.04 inches or 1 mm diameter) and transmit visible red light (wavelength = 650 nm) from LEDs.

Let's look at how an optical fiber works.

		Fiber Optics Technology