optical fiber

Optical Fiber

Optical fiber  are hair-thin threads of glass or plastic used as data transmission medium like copper wires or coaxial cables.They transmit light signals instead of electrical signals.As light travel much faster than electricity, optical fiber can transmit data at much higher speed then copper wires .optical are made of glass, plastic, or silica. Plastic fiber are least efficient. Glass or silica fibers are much smaller, and their lower attenuation makes them more suitable for high capacity channels.

Physically, a fiber-optic cable consists of three concentric layers- inner core, a cladding around it, and outer protective coating. Inner core has a diameter of 8 to 200 micrometers and consists of a bunch of optical fibers.The cladding around it made of a plastic or glass, and has a refractive index less than that of the core. The outer protective coating is made of plastic.

The main component of an optical fiber communication system.The sender side electrical to light -wave converter converts electrical signals into light signals. It uses either a light-emitting diode(LED) or a laser diode to convert electrical signals into light signals. It then transmit these light waves over the optical fiber to receiver's end.The receivers side light to electrical wave converter detects the light waves and converts them back  to electrical signals. It uses photoelectric diodes for this purpose. An amplifier then amplifies and sends the electrical signals to the receiver.