Top Questions about fiber optics

What is fiber optics?

Fiber optics, also spelled fibre optics, is the science of transmitting data, voice, and images by the passage of light through thin, transparent fibers.

What are the optical fibers used in fiber optics made of?

The optical fibers used in fiber optics are sometimes made of plastic but most often are made of glass. A typical glass optical fiber has a diameter of 125 micrometers (μm) or 0.125 mm (0.005 inches). Plastic fibers are made of polymethylmethacrylate, polystyrene, or polycarbonate. These are cheaper to produce and more flexible than glass fibers, but their attenuation of light restricts their use to shorter links.

What are the uses of fiber optics?

In telecommunications, optical fibers have been used to replace copper wire in long-distance telephone lines and for linking computers within local area networks. Fiber optics is also the basis of the fiberscopes used for endoscopy or inspecting the interiors of manufactured structural products.

What type of light is used in fiber optics?

Fiber optics telecommunication uses infrared light in the wavelength ranges of 0.8–0.9 μm or 1.3–1.6 μm - wavelengths, efficiently generated by light-emitting diodes or semiconductor lasers and that suffer minimum attenuation in glass fibers.

Why is fiber optics the best method for transmitting data long distances?

Through the principle of total internal reflection, light rays beamed into the optical fibers can propagate within the core for great distances with exceptionally concise attenuation or reduction in intensity, making fiber optics the ideal method for transmitting data over long distances.