FIBRE OPTICS

INTRODUCTION

-A fiber-optic cable is made up of 100 or more incredibly thin strands of glass or plastic known as optical fibers. Fiber-optic cables carry information between two places using entirely optical (light-based) technology.
-Optical fibers carry light signals down them in what are called modes. A mode is simply the path that a light beam follows down the fiber. -The simplest type of optical fiber is called single-mode. It has a very thin core. Cable TV, Internet, and telephone signals are generally carried by single-mode fibers, wrapped together into a huge bundle. Cables like this can send information over 100 km. -Another type of fiber-optic cable is called multi-mode. Each optical fiber in a multi-mode cable is about 10 times bigger than a single-mode cable and can send information only over relatively short distances and are used to link computer networks together. -Even thicker fibers are used in medical tools called endoscopes, which doctors poke down peoples throats for detecting illnesses inside their stomachs. Different sizes of endoscopes can be used to inspect different parts of the body. -There is also an industrial version of the tool, called a fiberscope, which can be used to examine things like inaccessible pieces of machinery in airplane engines.

HISTORY

-1930- German medical student, Heinrich Lamm was the first person to assemble a bundle of optical fibers to carry an image to look into inaccessible parts of the body.
- 1954- Dutch scientist Abraham Van Heel and British scientist Harold. H. Hopkins separately wrote papers on imaging bundles. Hopkins reported on imaging bundles of unclad fibers while Van Heel reported on simple bundles of clad fibers. -In 1961- Elias Snitzer of American Optical published a theoretical description of single mode fibers, a fiber with a core so small it could carry light with only one waveguide mode. - In 1964, a critical (and theoretical) specification was identified by Dr. C.K. Kao for long-range communication devices.Kao also illustrated the need for a purer form of glass to help reduce light loss. -In 1970, one team of researchers began experimenting with fused silica, a material capable of extreme purity with a high melting point and a low refractive index. Corning Glass researchers Robert Maurer, Donald Keck and Peter Schultz invented fiber optic wire or "Optical Waveguide Fibers - Today, more than 80 percent of the world's long-distance traffic is carried over optical fiber cables, 25 million kilometers of the cable Maurer, Keck and Schultz designed has been installed world wide.

HOW IT WORKS?

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Light travels down a fiber-optic cable by bouncing repeatedly off the walls. Each tiny photon (particle of light) bounces down the pipe. We might expect a beam of light, traveling in a clear glass pipe, simply to leak out of the edges. But if light hits glass at a really shallow angle (less than 42 degrees), it reflects back in again as though the glass were really a mirror. This phenomenon is called total internal reflection. The other thing that keeps light in the pipe is the structure of the cable, which is made up of two separate parts. The main part of the cable in the middle is called the core and that's the bit the light travels through. Wrapped around the outside of the core is another layer of glass called the cladding. The claddings job is to keep the light signals inside the core. It can do this because it is made of a different type of glass to the core. The cladding has a higher refractive index than the core. Light travels slower in the cladding than in the core. Any light that tries to leak into the cladding tends to bend back inside the core.

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APPLICATIONS OF FIBRE OPTICS

-Medium for telecommunication and 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 little attenuation compared to electrical cables.

-Used as sensors to measure strain, temperature, pressure and other quantities by modifying a fiber so that the property to measure is there.
- Illumination applications as they are used as light guides in medical and other applications where bright light needs to be shown on a target without a clear line-of-sight path. - Imaging optics. A coherent bundle of fibers is used, sometimes along with lenses, for a long, thin imaging device called an endoscope, which is used to view objects through a small hole. - Used to supply a low level of power (around one watt) to electronics situated in a difficult electrical environment.

ADVANTAGES OF FIBRE OPTICS

Eliminating Spark Hazards - In some cases, transmitting signals electrically can be extremely dangerous. Most electric potentials create small sparks. One tiny spark can create a big explosion and hinder data and communication in such facilities. Fiber optic cables do not produce sparks since they do not carry current.

High Bandwidth Over Long Distances - Fiber optics have a large capacity to carry high speed signals over longer distances without repeaters than other types of cables. The information carrying capacity increases with frequency. Fiber can be added to a wire network so it can reach terminals outside its normal range.

DISADVANTAGES OF FIBRE OPTICS

Limitations in Local Area Networks -In Local Area Networks, fiber optics is not used as widely as one would expect. One reason is the implementation requires great deal of changes in current networks and systems. This requires a lot of time and effort which the management is not willing to sacrifice. One fundamental problem in fiber optic Local Area Network is the change in technology.

Economic Evaluation - The major practical problem with fiber optics is that it usually costs more than ordinary wires.

CONCLUSION

High-speed connectivity is a major source of technological jobs and revenue for modern developed nations, and it is critical to the future of the economy. There are a lot of importance of fiber optics such as in the telecommunication field, medicine field and the manufacturing industry. At the same time, fibre optics is quite expansive and has it`s own limitations in the local area network (LAN). But, it is believed that fibre optics will bring more good to mankind as more researches are being done.

REFERENCES

1) Application of fiber optics. - http://www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract.cfm?&id=23872 - http://books.google.com/books?id=cB990MwuPkC&pg=PA149&dq=subject:%22Fiber+optics%22&sourc e=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false 2) Introduction to optic fibers

http://books.google.com/books?id=RP2FQw5uSywC&printsec=fron tcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false 3) John M. Senior, M. Yousif Jamro (2009). Optical fiber communications: principles and practice (third edition) 4) John Gowar (1993). Optical communication systems. 5) Ajoy K. Ghatak, K. Thyagarajan (1998).An introduction to fiber optics. 6) Understanding optical fibers communications. - http://www.utd.edu/~cantrell/ee6310/IBM_Optical_Comm.pdf

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