Understanding how fiber optics are made and function for uses in
everyday life is an intriguing work of art combined with
science. Fiber optics has been fabricated from materials that
transmit light and are made from a bundle of very thin glass or
plastic fibers enclosed in a tube. One end is at a source of
light and the other end is a camera lens, used to channel light
and images around the bends and corners. Fiber optics have a
highly transparent core of glass, or plastic encircled by a
covering called "cladding". Light is stimulated through a source
on one end of the fiber optic and as the light travels through
the tube, the cladding is there to keep it all inside. A bundle
of fiber optics may be bent or twisted without distorting the
image, as the cladding is designed to reflect these lighting
images from inside the surface. This fiber optic light source
can carry light over mass distances, ranging from a few inches
to over 100 miles.
There are two kinds of fiber optics. The single-mode fiber optic
is used for high speed and long distance transmissions because
they have extremely tiny cores and they accept light only along
the axis of the fibers. Tiny lasers send light directly into the
fiber optic where there are low-loss connectors used to join the
fibers within the system without substantially degrading the
light signal. Then there are multi-mode which have much larger
cores and accept light from a variety of angles and can use more
types of light sources. Multi-mode fiber optics also use less
expensive connectors, but they cannot be used over long
distances as with the single-mode fiber optics.
Fiber optics have a large variety of uses. Most common and
widely used in communication systems, fiber optic communication
systems have a variety of features that make it superior to the
systems that use the traditional copper cables. The use of fiber
optics with these systems use a larger information-carrying
capacity where they are not hassled with electrical interference
and require fewer amplifiers then the copper cable systems.
Fiber optic communication systems are installed in large
networks of fiber optic bundles all around the world and even
under the oceans. Many fiber optic testers are available to
provide you with the best fiber optic equipment.
In fiber optic communication systems, lasers are used to
transmit messages in numeric code by flashing on and off at high
speeds. This code can constitute a voice or an electronic file
containing, text, numbers, or illustrations, all by using fiber
optics. The light from many lasers are added together onto a
single fiber optic enabling thousands of currents of data to
pass through a single fiber optic cable at one time. This data
will travel through the fiber optics and into interpreting
devices to convert the messages back into the form of its
original signals. Industries also use fiber optics to measure
temperatures, pressure, acceleration and voltage, among an
assortment of other uses.
About the author:
James Croydon - Fiber Optic Engineer (
LC Fiber ) - has several
sites related to fiber optics at
Fiber Optic
Test Equipment and
Fiber Optic Patch
Cables
