Define optical fiber:

It is a guided media which consist of core and cladding that

transfer data in the form of light from one place to another is
called optical fiber.
Explanation:
A basic fiber optic link consists of a transmitting device, which
generates the light signal; an optical fiber cable, which carries the
light; and a receiver, which accepts the light signal transmitted. The
fiber itself is passive and does not contain any active properties .
Signal Trans symbol =TX
Signal Receive symbol =Rx

 Fiber has no hole.

 It used just as a guided medium.
 It’s made of pure silica (SiO2) or plastic material.
 In 1kg (SiO2) material we made 1km fiber.
 Glass optical fiber is better than plastic fiber, because plastic fiber is costly than
glass fiber, and plastic fiber gives a high signal loss than glass fiber
Core:
It is main inner part of the fiber that transmit data in the form of light from one
place to another is called core.
 Core diameter in single mode is 8-10 μm.
 Core diameter in multimode is 62.5 and 50 μm.

Core has no hole

Cladding:
It is outer part of core which insists the light to travel in the core is called
cladding.
 Cladding diameter is 125 μm. Sizes of cladding in both (SM/MM) are same.

 Light travel in fiber as per the principle of

total internal reflection.
Buffer coating or primary coating:
The hard plastic coating on the outside of the fiber protects the fiber
from moisture or physical damage.
 Coating size of fiber is 250 μm
Core & Cladding Sizing:
Fiber types are identified by the diameters of the core and cladding,
expressed in microns. Multimode fiber is available in two sizes, 62.5 or
50 microns, and four classifications: OM1 (62.5/125 µm), OM2, OM3,
OM4 (50/125 µm). The diameter of a single mode core is 9µm. Both
fiber types have a cladding diameter of 125 µm or microns.
The letters “OM” stand for optical multimode. Each type of them has different
characteristics.
Kinds of optical fiber:
There are two types of optical fiber as per its mode.

1. Single mode (SM)

2. Multimode fiber (MM)
1. Single mode:
If in the fiber, only one mode of light signal transfer then it is
called single-mode fiber. Core size of single mode fiber is
9/125 micro meter.
2. Multimode fiber:
If in the fiber, more than one mode of light signal transfer then
it is called multimode fiber. Core size of multimode fiber is
62.5/125 and 50/125.micre meter.
Explanation of OM’s:
 The core diameter of OM1 is 62.5 µm , however, core diameter of the OM2, OM3 and OM4 is 50
µm.
 Jacket Color: OM1 and OM2 MMF are generally defined by an orange jacket. OM3 and OM4 are
usually defined with an aqua jacket.
 Optical Source: OM1 and OM2 commonly use LED light source. However, OM3 and OM4 usually
use 850 nm VCSELs.
 Bandwidth: At 850 nm the minimal modal bandwidth of OM1 is 200MHz*km, of OM2 is
500MHz*km, of OM3 is 2000MHz*km, of OM4 is 4700MHz*km.
Single Mode cable:
Single mode cable is a single stand (most applications use 2 fibers) of glass fiber with a
diameter of 8 to 10 microns that has one mode of transmission.  Single Mode Fiber with a
relatively narrow diameter, through which only one mode will propagate typically 1310 or
1550nm. Carries higher bandwidth than multimode fiber, but requires a light source with a
narrow spectral width. Synonyms mono-mode optical fiber, single-mode fiber, single-mode
optical waveguide, uni-mode fiber.
Single Modem fiber is used in many applications where data is sent at multi-frequency (WDM
Wave-Division-Multiplexing) so only one cable is needed - (single-mode on one single fiber)
Single-mode fiber gives you a higher transmission rate and up to 50 times more distance than
multimode, but it also costs more. Single-mode fiber has a much smaller core than multimode.
The small core and single light-wave virtually eliminate any distortion that could result from
overlapping light pulses, providing the least signal attenuation and the highest transmission
speeds of any fiber cable type.  

Single-mode optical fiber is an optical fiber in which only the lowest order bound mode can
propagate at the wavelength of interest typically 1300 to 1320nm.