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Fiber Optics: Jacques Babinet in Paris in The Early 1840s

Fiber optics use thin strands of glass or plastic to transmit light and transmit data over long distances. Light is guided through the fiber by total internal reflection. Optical fibers are used for communication networks and have advantages over copper wiring like higher bandwidth, lower attenuation over long distances, immunity to electromagnetic interference, and electrical insulation. Common fiber materials include silica glass and plastic optical fibers. Single mode fiber carries higher bandwidth than multimode but requires a more precise light source.

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111 views

Fiber Optics: Jacques Babinet in Paris in The Early 1840s

Fiber optics use thin strands of glass or plastic to transmit light and transmit data over long distances. Light is guided through the fiber by total internal reflection. Optical fibers are used for communication networks and have advantages over copper wiring like higher bandwidth, lower attenuation over long distances, immunity to electromagnetic interference, and electrical insulation. Common fiber materials include silica glass and plastic optical fibers. Single mode fiber carries higher bandwidth than multimode but requires a more precise light source.

Uploaded by

Martin John Ramirez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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FIBER OPTICS

An 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.
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
electrical cables.
Guiding of light by refraction, the principle that makes fiber
optics possible, was demonstrated by Daniel Colladon and
Jacques Babinet in Paris in the early 1840s.
USES
• Communication - Optical fiber is used as a medium for
telecommunication and computer networking because it is
flexible and can be bundled as cables. It is especially
advantageous for long-distance communications, because light
propagates through the fiber with much lower attenuation
compared to electrical cables. This allows long distances to be
spanned with few repeaters.
• Sensors – Fibers have many uses in remote sensing. In some
applications, the sensor is itself an optical fiber. In other cases,
fiber is used to connect a non-fiberoptic sensor to a
measurement system. Depending on the application, fiber may
be used because of its small size, or the fact that no electrical
power is needed at the remote location, or because many
sensors can be multiplexed along the length of a fiber by using
different wavelengths of light for each sensor, or by sensing the
time delay as light passes along the fiber through each sensor.
Time delay can be determined using a device such as an optical
time-domain reflectometer.
• Power Transmission – Optical fiber can be used to transmit
power using photovoltaic cell to convert the light into
electricity. While this method of power transmission is not as
efficient 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 fields.
Advantages over copper
wiring
• High Bandwidth – A single optical fiber can carry over
3,000,000 full-duplex voice calls or 90,000 TV channels.

• Immunity to electromagnetic interference – Light transmission


through optical fibers is unaffected by other electromagnetic
radiation nearby. The optical fiber is electrically non-
conductive, so it does not act as an antenna to pick up
electromagnetic signals. Information traveling inside the optical
fiber is immune to electromagnetic interference, even
electromagnetic pulses generated by nuclear devices.
• Low attenuation loss over long distances – Attenuation loss
can be as low as 0.2 dB/km in optical cables, allowing
transmission over long distances without the need for
repeaters.
• Electrical insulator – Optical fibers do not conduct electricity,
preventing problems with ground loops and conduction of
lightning. Optical fibers can be strung on poles alongside high
voltage power cables.
• Material cost and theft prevention – Conventional cable
systems use large amounts of copper. Global copper prices
experienced a boom in the 2000s, and copper has been a target
of metal theft.
• Security of information passed down the cable – Copper can
be tapped with very little chance of detection.
• Speed – Fiber optic networks operate at high speeds – up into
gigabits.
• Distance – Signals can be transmitted further without needing
to be “refreshed” or strengthened.
• Resistance – Greater resistance to electromagnetic noise such as
radios, motors or other nearby cables.
• Maintenance – Fiber optic cables costs much less to maintain.
Materials
• Glass optical fibers are almost always made from silica, but
some other materials, such as fluorozirconate, fluoroaluminate,
and chalcogenide glasses as well as crystalline materials like
sapphire, are used for longer- wavelength infrared or other
specialized applications.

• Silica – exhibits fairly good optical transmission over a wide


range of wavelengths.
• Fluoride glass – because of their low viscosity, it is very
difficult to completely avoid crystallization while processing
the glass transition.
• Phosphate glass – can be advantageous over silica glasses for
optical fibers with high concentration of doping rare-earth ions.
• Chalcogenide glass – are extremely versatile compounds, in
that they can be crystalline or amorphous, metallic or
semiconducting, and conductors of ions or electrons, Glass
containing chalcogenides can be used make fibers for far
infrared transmission.
Three types of fiber optic
commonly used:
• Single mode
• Multimode
• Plastic optical fiber (POF)
Single Mode Cable
Is a single stand of glass fiber with a diameter of 8.3 to 10
microns that has one mode of transmission. Carries higher
bandwidth than multimode fiber, but requires a light
source with a narrow spectral width.
Multi-Mode Cable
Has a little bit bigger diameter, with a common diameters
in the 50 to 100 micron range for the light carry component.
Multimode fiber gives you high bandwidth at high speeds
over medium distances.
Plastic Optical Fiber
Advantage over the glass product, other aspect being
equal, is its robustness under bending and stretching.
Two Basic Cable Design
1. Loose-Tube Cable – in a loose-tube cable design, color-
coded plastic buffer tubes house and protect optical
fibers.
2. Tight-Buffered Cable – the buffering material is in
direct contact with the fiber. This design is suited for
jumper cables.
Connector Types
Common fiber cable types
• Distribution Cable
• Indoor/Outdoor Tight Buffer

• Indoor/Outdoor Breakout Cable


• Corning Cable Systems Freedm LST Cables

• Krone Indoor Outdoor Dry Loose Tube Cable


• Loose Tube Cable

• Aerial Cable/Self-Supporting
• Hybrid & Composite Cable

• Armored Cable
• Low Smoke Zero Halogen (LSZH)

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