Optical Fibers

Optical FibersJonathan PerezMEEN 3344

What are Optical Fibers?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 carry digital information over long distances.Used heavily in telecommunications and computer networksAlso used in medical imaging and mechanical engineering inspection

How are they made?Three step process

Step 1: Make a pre-form glass cylinder

How are they made?Step 2: Draw the fibers from the pre-form glass cylinder

Step 3: Test the finished optical fibers

Advantages of optical fibers(over metal wires)Less ExpensiveThinnerHigher Carrying CapacityLess Signal DegradationLight SignalsLow PowerDigital SignalsNon FlammableLightweightFlexible

Other and Future UsesIllumination: light can be carried from outside to rooms in the interiors of buildingsSensors: able to measure data at different points along the fiberLaser beams: provides a flexible and safe means of distributing high power laser radiation around a factory to be used by robots or machine toolsOptical Computing: uses light instead of electrons to process information. Optical computers could transport information ten times faster than today's electronic devices

Referenceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_Fiberhttp://electronics.howstuffworks.com/fiber-optic4.htmhttp://www.commspecial.com/fiberguide.htmhttp://www.physorg.com/news3679.htmlhttp://library.thinkquest.org/C006694F/Optical%20Fibres/Uses%201.htm