Abstract

Optical fibers are used extensively for data transmission systems because
of their dielectric nature and their large information-carrying capacity.
Network architectures using multiple wavelength channels per optical fiber
are utilized in local, metropolitan, or wide-area applications to connect
thousands of users having a wide range of transmission capacities and
speeds. A powerful aspect of an optical communication link is that many
different wavelengths can be sent along a fiber simultaneously in the
1300-to-1600-nm spectrum. The technology of combining a number of
wavelengths onto the same fiber is known as wavelength division
multiplexing (WDM). The concept of WDM used in conjunction with optical
amplifiers has resulted in communication links that allow rapid
communications between users in countries all over the world.
Key words:
optical fibers;
attenuation;
photonic systems;
WDM;
optical amplifiers;
dispersion;
nonlinear effects

HISTORY OF FIBRE OPTICS

As far back as Roman times, glass has been drawn into fibers. Yet, it was not
until the 1790s that the French Chappe brothers invented the first "optical
telegraph." It was a system comprised of a series of lights mounted on towers
where operators would relay a message from one tower to the next. Over the
course of the next century great strides were made in optical science.
John Tyndall - British Physicist - Light
John Tyndall, British physicist, demonstrated that light signals could be bent.
In the 1840s, physicists Daniel Collodon and Jacques Babinet showed that
light could be directed along jets of water for fountain displays. In 1854, John
Tyndall, a British physicist, demonstrated that light could travel through a
curved stream of water thereby proving that a light signal could be bent. He
proved this by setting up a tank of water with a pipe that ran out of one side.
As water flowed from the pipe, he shone a light into the tank into the stream
of water. As the water fell, an arc of light followed the water down.

 Alexander Graham Bell patented an optical telephone system called the

photophone in 1880. His earlier invention, the telephone, proved to be more
realistic however. That same year, William Wheeler invented a system of light
pipes lined with a highly reflective coating that illuminated homes by using light
from an electric arc lamp placed in the basement and directing the light around
the home with the pipes.
Graham Bell Telephone Sketch
Sketch of a telephone system by Alexander Graham Bell. Bell patented an optical
telephone system which assisted in the advancement of optical technology.
Doctors Roth and Reuss, of Vienna, used bent glass rods to illuminate body
cavities in 1888. French engineer Henry Saint-Rene designed a system of bent
glass rods for guiding light images seven years later in an early attempt at
television. In 1898, American David Smith applied for a patent on a dental
illuminator using a curved glass rod.

 In the 1920s, John Logie Baird patented the idea of using arrays of
transparent rods to transmit images for television and Clarence W.
Hansell did the same for facsimiles. Heinrich Lamm, however, was the
first person to transmit an image through a bundle of optical fibers in
1930. It was an image of a light bulb filament. His intent was to look
inside inaccessible parts of the body, but the rise of the Nazis forced
Lamm, a Jew, to move to America and abandon his dream of becoming a
professor of medicine. His effort to file a patent was denied because of
Hansell's British patent.
In 1951, Holger Moeller applied for a Danish patent on fiber-optic imaging
in which he proposed cladding glass or plastic fibers with a transparent
low-index material, but was denied because of Baird and Hansell's
patents. Three years later, Abraham Van Heel and Harold H. Hopkins
presented imaging bundles in the British journal Nature at separate
times. Van Heel later produced a cladded fiber system that greatly
reduced signal interference and crosstalk between fibers.

 Also in 1954, the "maser" was developed by Charles Townes and his colleagues at
Columbia University. Maser stands for "microwave amplification by stimulated emission
of radiation."
The laser was introduced in 1958 as a efficient source of light. The concept was
introduced by Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow to show that masers could be made
to operate in optical and infrared regions. Basically, light is reflected back and forth in an
energized medium to generate amplified light as opposed to excited molecules of gas
amplified to generate radio waves, as is the case with the maser. Laser stands for "light
amplification by stimulated emission of radiation."
Helium-neon Gas Laser
A helium-neon gas laser (He-Ne) is tested in a laboratory setting. The laser tube is made
from lead glass- the same glass used in neon signs. Image courtesy of J&K Lasers.
In 1960, the first continuously operating helium-neon gas laser is invented and tested.
That same year an operable laser was invented which used a synthetic pink ruby crystal
as the medium and produced a pulse of light.

 In 1961, Elias Snitzer of American Optical published a theoretical description

of single mode fibers whose core would be so small it could carry light with
only one wave-guide mode. Snitzer was able to demonstrate a laser directed
through a thin glass fiber which was sufficient for medical applications, but for
communication applications the light loss became too great.
Charles Kao and George Hockham, of Standard Communications Laboratories
in England, published a paper in 1964 demonstrating, theoretically, that light
loss in existing glass fibers could be decreased dramatically by removing
impurities.
In 1970, the goal of making single mode fibers with attenuation less then
20dB/km was reached by scientists at Corning Glass Works. This was achieved
through doping silica glass with titanium. Also in 1970, Morton Panish and Izuo
Hayashi of Bell Laboratories, along with a group from the Ioffe Physical
Institute in Leningrad, demonstrated a semiconductor diode laser capable of
emitting continuous waves at room temperature.

 In 1973, Bell Laboratories developed a modified chemical vapor deposition process that
heats chemical vapors and oxygen to form ultra-transparent glass that can be massproduced into low-loss optical fiber. This process still remains the standard for fiber-optic
cable manufacturing.
The first non-experimental fiber-optic link was installed by the Dorset (UK) police in 1975.
Two years later, the first live telephone traffic through fiber optics occurs in Long Beach,
California.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, telephone companies began to use fibers extensively to
rebuild their communications infrastructure.
Sprint was founded on the first nationwide, 100 percent digital, fiber-optic network in the
mid-1980s.
The erbium-doped fiber amplifier, which reduced the cost of long-distance fiber systems by
eliminating the need for optical-electrical-optical repeaters, was invented in 1986 by David
Payne of the University of Southampton and Emmanuel Desurvire at Bell Labratories. Based
on Desurvire's optimized laser amplification technology, the first transatlantic telephone
cable went into operation in 1988.

 In 1991, Desurvire and Payne demonstrated optical amplifiers that were built
into the fiber-optic cable itself. The all-optic system could carry 100 times more
information than cable with electronic amplifiers. Also in 1991, photonic crystal
fiber was developed. This fiber guides light by means of diffraction from a
periodic structure rather then total internal reflection which allows power to be
carried more efficiently then with conventional fibers therefore improving
performance.
The first all-optic fiber cable, TPC-5, that uses optical amplifiers was laid across
the Pacific Ocean in 1996. The following year the Fiber Optic Link Around the
Globe (FLAG) became the longest single-cable network in the world and
provided the infrastructure for the next generation of Internet applications.
Today, a variety of industries including the medical, military,
telecommunication, industrial, data storage, networking, and broadcast
industries are able to apply and use fiber optic technology in a variety of
applications.

Fibre optic tools

Metric to Standard ConverterCONVERT Meters Feet Centimeters Miles
Inches Yards To Feet Meters Centimeters Miles Inches Yards Convert!
[javascript:convert(document.fromUnits,document.ToUnits)]
OM1, OM2, OM3 and OM4 FiberIn ANSI/TIA-568-C.3, the TIA adopted
the nomenclature for fiber found in the international standard ISO/IEC
11801. The multimode fiber is prefixed with...
Standard to Metric ConverterEnter a value in any one field and click
Calculate; equivalent values are automatically displayed. m (meters)
cm (centimeters) ft...
Fiber Length Calculator for Spools and ReelsLearn the maximum
length of fiber that can be held in a spool, with a given spool size and
fiber diameter. ...
Time Delay of Light in Fiber CalculatorThe time delay of light in a
distance fiber can easily be approximated. Since light travels down
light in approximately a straight...

Fibre optic connectors

Fiber Optic Connectors

Learn about various fiber optic connector styles.

ST Connectors
ST Connectors
ST Connectors: Slotted bayonet type connector with long ferrule. Common connector for mulitmode fibers.

Fiber Optic Line

SC Connectors
SC Connectors
SC Connectors: Push/pull connector that can also be used with duplex fiber constuction.

Fiber Optic Line

LC Connectors
LC Connectors
LC Connectors: Much like the SC connector but with a ferrule that is half the size.

Fiber Optic Line

MU Connectors
MU Connectors
MU Connectors: Much like the SC connector but with a ferrule about half the size.

Fiber Optic Line

FC Connectors
FC Connectors
FC Connectors: Screw on type connector. Popular with single mode fibers.

 Fiber Optic Line

SMA Connectors
SMA Connectors
SMA connectors use a threaded connection to keep the plug intact in the socket. It was developed and
manufactured by Amphenol Fiber Optic Products.

Fiber Optic Line

Armadillo LC
Armadillo LC
Armadillo LC Connectors: A ruggedized duplex fiber optic cable assembly featuring rigid plastic connector shell
and integrated strain relief boot. The Armadillo LC features a long molded thumb release with anti-slip grip for
easy connector insertion and removal.

Fiber Optic Line

Armadillo SC
Armadillo SC
Armadillo SC Connectors: A ruggedized duplex fiber optic connector featuring rigid plastic connector shell and
integrated strain relief boot.

MT Connectors

MT Connectors
Multi-fiber connector housing up to 24 fibers in a single ferrule,

Fiber Optic Line

MT-RJ Connectors
MT-RJ Connectors
A fiber-optic cable connector that is very popular for small form factor
devices due to its small size. Housing two fibers and mating together
with locating pins on the plug, the MT-RJ comes from the MT
connector, which can contain up to 12 fibers.

adapters