5 Questions
Why are fibers used instead of metal wires in fiber-optic communications?
Signals travel along fibers with less loss and are immune to electromagnetic interference
How are glass optical fibers typically made?
By drawing
What causes the fiber to act as a waveguide?
Total internal reflection
What are fibers that support many propagation paths or transverse modes called?
Multi-mode fibers
In what way do optical fibers permit transmission over longer distances and at higher bandwidths than electrical cables?
Signals travel with less loss
Study Notes
Fiber-Optic Communications
- Fibers are used instead of metal wires because they offer higher bandwidth, lower attenuation, and greater immunity to electromagnetic interference.
Fabrication of Glass Optical Fibers
- Glass optical fibers are typically made by heating and stretching a preform, which is a large, cylindrical piece of glass, until it reaches the desired fiber diameter.
Waveguide Properties
- The fiber acts as a waveguide because the refractive index of the core is higher than that of the cladding, causing total internal reflection of light at the boundary.
Multimode Fibers
- Fibers that support many propagation paths or transverse modes are called multimode fibers.
Advantages of Optical Fibers
- Optical fibers permit transmission over longer distances and at higher bandwidths than electrical cables because light signals travel at much higher speeds than electric signals, and are less susceptible to signal degradation.
Test your knowledge of optical fibers and fiber-optic communications in this quiz. Explore the principles of light transmission, advantages over electrical cables, and applications in long-distance data transfer.
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