DAISY DALES SCHOOL

INDORE
A PROJECT ON

OPTICAL FIBER
PHYSICS

SUBMITTED AS A PART OF THE PRACTICAL EXAMINATION OF AISSCE 2023-2024

GUIDED BY: Mr. Vivek Joshi

SUBMITTED BY: Atharva Khandelwal
 DAISY DALES SCHOOL
INDORE
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION
This is to certify that Atharva Khandelwal of class Xll has completed the
project work on the topic
“OPTICAL FIBER”
regarding physics as a part of the Practical Examination of AISSCE-2023
conducted by CBSE New Delhi

SIGNATURE OF INTERNAL SIGNATURE OF EXTERNAL

SIGNATURE OF PRINCIPAL
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It gives me immense pleasure to express my deepest sense of gratitude
and sincere thanks to the highly respected and esteemed "Mr. Vivek Joshi"
for his valuable guidance, encouragement, and help in completing this work.
His useful suggestions for this whole work and cooperative behavior are
sincerely acknowledged.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to Director "Sandeep Bhatnagar"

and Principal "Namita Bhatnagar" for giving us this opportunity to
undertake this project.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to all the faculty members who
helped me directly or indirectly during this project.
INDEX
 Introduction
 Important Terms Related to Optical Fiber
 Structure of Optical Fiber
 Types of Optical Fiber
 Applications of Optical Fiber
 Principle of Operation of Optical Fiber
 Mechanism of Attenuation
 Manufacturing of Optical Fiber
 Practical Issues
 Pros of Optical Fiber
 Cons of Optical Fiber
 Conclusion
INTRODUCTION
An optical fiber (or fiber) is a glass or plastic fiber that carries
light along its length. Fiber optics is the overlap of applied
science and engineering concerned with the design and
application of fiber optic communications, which permits
transmission over longer distances and at higher bandwidths
(data rates) than other forms of communications. Fibers are
used instead of metal wires because signals travel along them
with less loss, and they are also immune to electromagnetic
interference. Fibers are also used for illumination and are
wrapped in bundles so they can be used to carry images, thus
allowing viewing in tight spaces.

CROSS-SECTION OF OPTICAL FIBRE

Specially designed fibers are used for a variety of other
applications, including sensors and fiber lasers. Joining
lengths of optical fiber is more complex than joining electrical
wire or cable. The ends of the fibers must be carefully cleaved
and then spliced together either mechanically or by fusing
them with an electric arc. Special connectors are used to make
removable connections.
IMPORTANT TERMS RELATED TO OPTICAL FIBER
Optical Fiber: An optical fiber (or fiber) is a glass or
plastic fiber that carries light along its length. Fiber
optics is the overlap of applied science and
engineering concerned with the design and
application of optical fibers. Optical fibers are widely
used in fiber-optic communications, which permits
transmission over longer distances and at higher
bandwidths (data rates) than other forms of
communication.
Refraction: Refraction is the change in the direction
of a wave due to a change in its speed. This is most
observed when a wave passes from one medium to
another. Refraction of light is the most observed
phenomenon, but any type of wave can refract when
it interacts with a medium, for example, when sound
waves pass from one medium into another or when
water waves move into the water of a different depth.
Reflection: Reflection is the change in direction of a
wavefront at an interface between two different
media so that the wavefront returns to the medium
from which it originated. Common examples include
the reflection of light, sound, and water waves.
Scattering: Scattering is a general physical process
where some forms of radiation, such as light, sound,
or moving particles, are forced to deviate from a
straight trajectory by one or more localized non-
uniformities in the medium through which they pass.
In conventional use, this also includes deviation of
reflected radiation from the angle predicted by the
law of reflection.
Attenuation: It is the gradual loss in intensity of any
kind of flux through a medium. For instance, sunlight
is attenuated by dark glasses, and X-rays are
attenuated by lead.
STRUCTURE OF OPTICAL FIBER
The three basic elements of a fiber optic cable
are the core, the cladding, and the coating.

Core: This is the light transmission area of fiber,

either glass or plastic. The larger the core, the more
light that will be transmitted into the fiber.

Cladding: The function of the cladding is to provide a

lower refractive index at the core interface to cause
reflection within the core so that light waves are
transmitted through the fiber.
Coating: Coatings are usually multi-layers of plastics
applied to preserve fiber strength, absorb shock, and
provide extra fiber protection. These buffer coatings
are available from 250 microns to 800 microns.
TYPES OF OPTICAL FIBER
Single-Mode Cable: Single-mode cable is a single
stand (most applications use 2 fibers) glass fiber with
a diameter of 8.3 to 10 microns that has one mode of
transmission. Single Mode Fiber with a relatively
narrow diameter, through which only one mode will
propagate typically 1310 or 1550nm. It carries higher
bandwidth than multimode fiber but requires a light
source with a narrow spectral width. Synonyms
mono-mode optical fiber, single-mode fiber, single-
mode optical waveguide, uni-mode fiber.
Single Modem fiber is used in many applications
where data is sent at multifrequency (WDM Wave-
Division-Multiplexing) so only one cable is needed -
(single-mode on one single fiber.)
Single-mode fiber gives you a higher transmission
rate and up to 50 times more distance than
multimode, but it also costs more. Single-mode fiber
has a much smaller core than a multimode. The small
core and single light wave virtually eliminate any
distortion that could result from overlapping light
pulses, providing the least signal attenuation and the
highest transmission speeds of any fiber cable type.
Single-mode optical fiber is an optical fiber in which
only the lowest order bound mode can propagate at
the wavelength of interest typically, 1300 to 1320nm.
Multi-Mode Cable: Multi-Mode cable is a little bit
bigger in diameter, with a common diameter in the 50
to 100-micron range for the light carry component (in
the US the most common size is 62.5um). In most
applications in which Multimode fiber is used, 2 fibers
are used (WDM is not normally used in multi-mode).

POF is a newer plastic-based cable that promises

performance like glass cable on very short runs but
at a lower cost.

Multimode fiber gives you high bandwidth at high

speeds (10 to 100 - Gigabit to 275m to 2km) over
medium distances. Light waves are dispersed into
numerous paths, or modes, as they travel through the
cable's core typically 850 or 1300nm.
Typical multi-mode fiber core diameters are 50, 62.5,
and 100 micrometers. However, in long cable runs
(greater than 3000 feet [914.4 meters]), multiple
paths of light can cause signal distortion at the
receiving end, resulting in an unclear and incomplete
data transmission so designers now call for a single
mode fiber in new applications using Gigabit and
beyond.
PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
An optical fiber is a cylindrical dielectric waveguide
(non-conducting waveguide) that transmits light
along its axis, by the process of total internal
reflection. The fiber core is surrounded by a cladding
layer.

Index Of Refraction: The index of refraction is a way

of measuring the speed of light in a material. Light
travels fastest in a vacuum, such as outer space. The
actual speed of light in a vacuum is about 300 million
meters (186 thousand miles) per second. The index of
refraction is calculated by dividing the speed of light
in a vacuum by the speed of light in some other
medium.
The index of refraction of a vacuum is therefore 1. The
typical value for the cladding of an optical fiber is 1.46.
The core value is typically 1.48.
The larger the index of refraction, the slower light
travels in that medium. From this information, a good
rule of thumb is that signals using optical fiber for
communication will travel at around 200 million
meters per second. Or to put it another way, to travel
1000 kilometers in fiber, the signal will take 5
milliseconds to propagate. Thus, a phone call carried
by fiber between Sydney and New York, a 12000-
kilometer distance, means that there is an absolute
minimum delay of 60 milliseconds (or around 1/16th
of a second) between when one caller speaks to when
the other hears. (Of course, the fiber in this case will
probably travel a longer route, and there will be
additional delays due to communication equipment
switching and the process of encoding and decoding
the voice onto the fiber).
Total Internal Refraction: When light travels in a
dense. I the medium hits a boundary at a steep angle
(larger than the "critical angle" for the boundary), the
light will be completely reflected. This effect is used
in optical fibers to confine light in the core. Light
travels along the fiber bouncing back and forth off the
boundary. Because the light must strike the boundary
with an an angle greater than the critical angle, only
light that enters the fiber within a certain range of
angles can travel down the fiber without leaking out.
This range of angles is called the acceptance cone of
the fiber. The size of this acceptance cone is a
function of the refractive index difference between
the fiber's core and cladding. In simpler terms, there
is a maximum angle from the fiber axis at which light
may enter the fiber so that it will propagate, or travel,
in the core of the fiber.
The sine of this maximum angle is the
Numerical Aperture (NA) of the fiber. Fiber
with a larger NA requires less precision to
splice and work with than fiber with a smaller
NA. Single-mode fiber has a small NA.
Mechanism of Attenuation: Attenuation in fiber
optics, also known as transmission loss, is the
reduction in intensity of the light beam (or signal)
concerning distance traveled through a transmission
medium. Attenuation coefficients in fiber optics
usually use units of dB/km through the medium due
to the relatively high quality of transparency of
modern optical transmission media. The medium is
typically a fiber of silica glass that confines the
incident light beam to the inside. Attenuation is an
important factor limiting the transmission of a digital
signal across large distances. Thus, much research
has gone into both limiting the attenuation and
maximizing the amplification of the optical signal.
Empirical research has shown that attenuation in
optical fiber is caused primarily by both scattering
and absorption.
Light Scattering: The propagation of light through
the core of an optical fiber is based on the total
internal reflection of the light wave. Rough and
irregular surfaces, even at the molecular level, can
cause light rays to be reflected in random directions.
This is called diffuse reflection or scattering, and it is
typically characterized by a wide variety of reflection
angles. Light scattering depends on the wavelength of
the light being scattered. Thus, limits to spatial scales
of visibility arise, depending on the frequency of the
incident light wave and the physical dimension (or
spatial scale) of the scattering center, which is
typically in the form of some specific micro-
structural feature.
MANUFACTURING
Materials
Glass optical fibers are almost always made from
silica, but some other materials, such as -
Fluoro zirconate, fluoro aluminate, and chalcogenide
glasses are used for longer-wavelength infrared
applications. Like other glasses, these glasses have a
refractive Index of about 1.5. Typically, the difference
between core and cladding is less than one percent.
Plastic optical fibers (POF) are commonly step-index
multi-mode fibers with a core diameter of 0.5
millimeters or larger. POF typically has higher
attenuation coefficients than glass fibers, 1 dB/m or
higher, and this high attenuation limits the range of
POF-based systems.
Silica
Silica exhibits fairly good optical transmission over a
wide range of wavelengths. In the near-infrared
(near IR) portion of the spectrum, particularly around
1.5 µm, silica can have extremely low absorption and
scattering losses of the order of 0.2 dB/km.
A high transparency in the 1.4-um region is achieved
by maintaining a low concentration of hydroxyl groups
(OH). Alternatively, a high OH concentration is better
for transmission in the ultraviolet (UV) region.
Silica can be drawn into fibers at reasonably high
temperatures and has a fairly broad glass
transformation range. One other advantage is that
fusion splicing and cleaving of silica fibers is
relatively effective. Silica fiber also has high
mechanical strength against both pulling and even
bending, provided that the fiber is not too thick and
that the surfaces have been well prepared during
processing. Even simple cleaving (breaking) of the
ends of the fiber can provide nicely flat surfaces with
acceptable optical quality.
Silica is also relatively chemically inert. It is not
hygroscopic (does not absorb water). Silica glass can
be doped with various materials. One purpose of
doping is to raise the refractive index (e.g. with
Germanium dioxide (GeO2) or Aluminum oxide
(Al2O3)) or to lower it (e.g. with fluorine or Boron
trioxide (B203)). Doping is also possible with laser-
active loans (for example, rare-earth-doped fibers)
to obtain active fibers to be used, for example, in fiber
amplifiers or laser applications.
Both the fiber core and cladding are typically doped
so that the entire assembly (core and cladding) is
effectively the same compound (e.g., an
aluminosilicate, germanosilicate, phosphosilicate, or
borosilicate glass).
Particularly for active fibers, pure silica is usually not
a very suitable host glass, because it exhibits a low
solubility for rare earth ions. This can lead to
quenching effects due to the clustering of dopant
ions. Aluminosilicates are Silica fibers and exhibit a
high threshold for optical damage.
This property ensures a low tendency for laser-
induced breakdown. This is important for fiber
amplifiers when utilized for the amplification of short
pulses. Because of these properties, silica fibers are
the material of choice in many optical applications,
such as communications (except for very short
distances with plastic optical fiber), fiber lasers, fiber
amplifiers, and fiber-optic sensors. Large efforts
have been put forth in the development of various
types of performance of such fibers over other
materials.
Process
Standard optical fibers are made by first
constructing a large diameter preform, with a
carefully controlled refractive index profile, and then
pulling the preform to form the long, thin optical fiber.
The preform is commonly made by three chemical
vapor deposition methods: inside vapor deposition,
outside vapor deposition, and vapor axial deposition.
With inside vapor deposition, the preform starts as a
hollow glass tube approximately 40 centimeters (16
in) long, which is placed horizontally and rotated
slowly on a lathe. Gases such as silicon tetrachloride
(SIC14) or germanium tetrachloride (GeCl4) are
injected with oxygen at the end of the tube.
The gases are then heated using an external hydrogen
burner, bringing the temperature of the gas up to
1900 K (1600 °C, 3000 °F), where the tetra-chlorides
react with oxygen to produce silica or Germania
(germanium dioxide) particles. When the reaction
conditions are chosen to allow this reaction to occur
in the gas phase throughout the tube volume, in
contrast to earlier techniques where the reaction
occurred only on the glass surface, this technique is
called modified chemical vapor deposition.
COATING
Fiber optic coatings are UV-cured urethane acrylate
composite materials applied to the outside of the
fiber during the drawing process. The coatings
protect the very delicate strands of glass fiber about
the size of a human hair and allow it to survive the
rigors of manufacturing, proof testing, cabling, and
Installation. Today’s glass optical fiber draw
processes employ a dual-layer coating approach. An
inner primary coating is designed to act as a shock
absorber to minimize attenuation caused by micro-
bending. An outer secondary coating protects the
primary coating against mechanical damage and acts
as a barrier to lateral forces. These fiber optic
coating layers are applied during the fiber draw, at
speeds approaching 100 kilometers per hour.
(60 mph).
Fiber optic coatings are applied using one of two
methods: wet-on-dry, in which the fiber passes
through a primary coating application, which is then
UV cured, then through the secondary coating
application which is subsequently cured; and wet-on-
wet, in which the fiber passes through both the
primary and secondary coating applications and then
goes to UV curing.
Fiber optic coatings are applied in concentric layers
to prevent damage to the fiber during the drawing
application and to maximize fiber strength and micro-
bend resistance.
Unevenly coated fiber will experience non-uniform
forces when the coating expands or contracts and is
susceptible to greater signal attenuation.
Under proper drawing an application and, the
coatings are concentric around the fiber, continuous
over the length of the application, and have a constant
thickness. Fiber optic coatings protect the glass
fibers from scratches that could lead to strength
degradation. The combination of moisture and
scratches accelerates the aging and deterioration of
fiber strength. When fiber is subjected to low
stresses over a long period, fiber fatigue can occur.
Over time or in extreme conditions, these factors
combine to cause microscopic flaws in the glass fiber
to propagate, which can ultimately result in fiber
failure.
APPLICATIONS OF OPTICAL FIBRE
Optical Fiber Communication: Optical fiber can be used as a
medium for telecommunication and networking because it is
flexible and can be bundled as cables. It is especially
advantageous for long-distance communications because light
propagates through the fiber with little attenuation compared
to electrical cables. This allows long distances to be spanned
with few repeaters. Additionally, the per-channel light signals
propagating in the fiber can be modulated at rates as high as
111 gigabits per second, although 10 or 40 Gb/s is typical in
deployed systems. Each fiber can carry many independent
channels, each using a different wavelength of light
(wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM)). communications
equipment located in high voltage environments such as power
generation facilities, or metal communication structures
prone to lightning strikes. They can also be used in
environments where explosive fumes are present, without
danger of ignition.
Wiretapping is more difficult compared to electrical
connections, and there are concentric dual-core fibers that
are said to be tap-proof. Although fibers can be made from
transparent plastic, glass, or a combination of the two, the
fibers used in long-distance Telecommunications applications
are always glass, because of the lower optical attenuation.
Both multi-mode and single-mode fibers are used in
communications, with multi-mode fiber used mostly for short
distances, although fibers can be made out of transparent
plastic, glass, or a combination of the two, the fibers used in
long-distance telecommunications The net data rate (data rate
without overhead bytes) per fiber is the per-channel data rate
reduced by the FEC overhead, multiplied by the number of
channels (usually up to eighty in commercial dense WDM
systems as of 2008).
The current laboratory fiber optic data rate record, held by
Bell Labs in Villarceaux, France is multiplexing 155 channels,
each carrying 100 Gbps over a 7000 km fiber. For short-
distance applications, such as creating a network within an
office building.
Fiber-optic cabling can be used to save space in cable ducts.
This is because a single fiber can often carry much more data
than many electrical cables, such as Cat-5 Ethernet cabling.
Fiber is also immune to electrical interference; there is no
crosstalk between signals in different cables and no pickup of
environmental noise. Non-armored fiber cables do not conduct
electricity, which makes fiber a good solution for protecting
applications that are always glass, because of the lower optical
attenuation. Both multi-mode and single-mode fibers are used
in communications, with multi-mode fiber used mostly for
short distances, up to 550 m (600 yards), and single-mode
fiber used for longer distance links. Because of the tighter
tolerances required to couple light into and between single-
mode fibers (core diameter about 10 micrometers), single-
mode transmitters, receivers, amplifiers, and other
components are generally more expensive than multi-mode
components.
Fiber Optic Sensors: Fibers have many uses in remote
sensing. In some applications, the sensor is itself an optical
fiber. In other cases, fiber is used to connect a non-fiberoptic
sensor to a measurement system. Depending on the
application, fiber may be used because of its small size, or the
fact that no electrical power is needed at the remote location,
or because many sensors can be multiplexed along the length
of a fiber by using different wavelengths of light for each
sensor, or by sensing the time delay as light passes along the
fiber through each sensor. Time delay can be determined using
a device such as an optical time-domain reflectometer. Optical
fibers can be used as sensors to measure strain, temperature,
pressure and other quantities by modifying a fiber so that the
quantity to be measured modulates the intensity, phase,
polarization, wavelength or transit time of light in the fiber.
Sensors that vary the intensity of light is the simplest, since
only a simple source and detector are required. A particularly
useful feature of such fiber optic sensors that they can if
required, provide distributed sensing over distances of
up to one meter. Extrinsic fiber optic sensors use an optical
fiber cable, normally a multimode one, to transmit modulated
light from either a non-fiber optical sensor or an electronic
sensor connected to an optical transmitter. A major benefit of
extrinsic sensors is their ability to reach places that are
otherwise inaccessible. An example is the measurement of the
temperature inside aircraft jet engines by using a fiber to
transmit radiation into a radiation pyrometer located outside
the engine. Extrinsic sensors can also be used in the same way
to measure the internal temperature of electrical
transformers, where the extreme electromagnetic fields
present make other measurement techniques Impossible.
Extrinsic sensors are used to measure vibration, rotation,
displacement, velocity, acceleration, torque, and twisting.
OTHER USES OF OPTICAL FIBERS

Illuminations: Fibers are widely used in illumination

applications. They are used as light guides in medical
and other applications where bright light needs to be
shone on a target without a clear line-of-sight path.
In some buildings, optical fibers are used to route
sunlight from the roof to other parts of the building
(see non-imaging optics). Optical fiber illumination is
also used for decorative applications, including signs,
art, and artificial Christmas trees. Swarovski
boutiques use optical fibers to illuminate their crystal
showcases from many different angles while only
employing one light source. Optical fiber is an
intrinsic part of the light-transmitting concrete
building product, LiTraCon.
Imaging Optics: Optical fiber is also used in Imaging
optics. A coherent bundle of fibers is used, sometimes
along with lenses, for a long, thin imaging device
called an endoscope, which is used to view objects
through a small hole. Medical endoscopes are used
for minimally invasive exploratory or surgical
procedures (endoscopy). Industrial endoscopes (see
fiberscope or borescope) are used for Inspecting
anything hard to reach, such as jet engine interiors.
In spectroscopy, optical fiber bundles are used to
transmit light from a spectrometer to a substance
which cannot be placed inside the spectrometer
itself, to analyze its composition. A spectrometer
analyzes substances by bouncing light off and through
them. By using fibers, a spectrometer can be used to
study objects that are too large to fit inside, or
gasses, or reactions that occur in pressure vessels.
 An optical fiber doped with certain rare earth
elements such as erbium can be used as the gain
medium of a laser or optical amplifier. Rare-earth
doped optical fibers can be used to provide signal
amplification by splicing a short section of doped fiber
into a regular (undoped) optical fiber line. The doped
fiber is optically pumped with a second laser the
wavelength that is coupled into the line in addition to
the signal wave. Both wavelengths of light are
transmitted through the doped fiber, which transfers
energy from the second pump wavelength to the
signal wave. The process that causes the
amplification is stimulated emission.
Practical Issues
Optical Fiber Cables: In practical fibers, the cladding
is usually coated with a tough resin buffer layer,
which may be further surrounded by a jacket layer,
usually plastic. These layers add strength to the fiber
but do not contribute to its optical waveguide
properties. Rigid fiber assemblies are sometimes put
light-absorbing ("dark") glass between the fibers, to
prevent light that leaks out of one fiber from entering
another. This reduces crosstalk between the fibers,
or reduces flare in fiber bundle imaging applications.
Modern cables come in a wide variety of sheathings
and armor, designed for applications such as direct
burial in trenches, high-voltage isolation, dual use as
power lines, [40][not in citation given] installation in
conduit, lashing to aerial telephone poles, submarine
installation, and insertion in paved streets. The cost
of a small fiber count pole-mounted cables have
greatly decreased due to the high Japanese and
South Korean demand for fiber-to-the-home (FTTH)
Installations. Fiber cable can be very flexible, but
traditional fiber's loss increases greatly if the fiber is
bent with a radius smaller than around 30 mm. This
creates a problem when the cable is bent around
corners or wound around a spool, making FTTX
installations more complicated. "Bendable fibers",
targeted towards easier installation in the home
environments have been standardized as ITU-T G.657.
This type of fiber can be bent with a radius as low as
7.5 mm without adverse impact. Even more bendable
fibers have been developed.
Bendable fiber may also be resistant to fiber hacking,
in which the signal in a fiber is surreptitiously
monitored by bending the fiber and detecting the
leakage.
Another important feature of cable is cable
withstanding against the horizontally applied force. It
is technically called max tensile strength defining how
much force can applied to the cable during the
installation of a period.
TERMINATION AND SPLICING
Optical fibers are connected to the terminal
equipment by optical fiber connectors. These
connectors are usually of a standard type such as FC,
SC, ST, LC, or MTRJ. Optical fibers may be connected
by connectors or by splicing, that is, joining two fibers
together to form a continuous optical waveguide. The
generally accepted splicing method is arc fusion
splicing, which melts the fiber ends together with an
electric arc. For quicker fastening jobs, a "mechanical
splice" is used. Fusion splicing is done with a
specialized instrument that typically operates as
follows: The two cable ends are fastened inside a
splice enclosure that will protect the splices, and the
fiber ends are stripped of their protective polymer
coating (as well as the sturdier outer jacket (if
present)).
The ends are cleaved (cut) with a precision cleaver to
make them perpendicular and are placed into special
holders in the splicer. The splice is usually inspected
via a magnified viewing screen to check the cleaves
before and after the splice.
The splicer uses small motors to align the end faces
together and emits a small spark between electrodes
at the gap to burn off dust and moisture. Then the
splicer generates a larger spark that raises the
temperature above the melting point of the glass,
fusing the ends together permanently. The location
and energy of the spark are carefully controlled so
that the molten core and cladding don't mix, and this
minimizes optical loss. A splice loss estimate is
measured by the splicer, by directing light through
the cladding on one side and measuring the light
leaking from the cladding on the other side.
A splice loss under 0.1 dB is typical. The complexity of
this process makes fiber splicing much more difficult
than splicing copper wire.
FIBER FUSE
At high optical intensities, above 2 megawatts per
square centimeter, when a fiber is subjected to a
shock or is otherwise suddenly damaged, a fiber fuse
can occur. The reflection from the damage vaporizes
the fiber immediately before the break, and this new
defect remains reflective so that the damage
propagates back toward the transmitter at 1-3
meters per second (4-11 km/h, 2-8 mph). The open
fiber control system, which ensures laser eye safety
in the event of a broken fiber, can also effectively halt
the propagation of the fiber fuse. In situations, such
as undersea cables, where high power levels might be
used without the need for open fiber control, a "fiber
fuse" protection device at the transmitter can break
the circuit to prevent any damage.
PROS OF OPTICAL FIBER
Extremely High Bandwidth: No other cable-based
data transmission medium offers the bandwidth that
fiber does. The volume of data that fiber optic cables
transmit per unit of time is far greater than copper
cables.
Longer Distance: In fiber optic transmission, optical
cables can provide low-power loss, which enables
signals to be transmitted to a longer distance than
copper cables. Resistance to Electromagnetic
Interference: In practical cable deployment, it's
inevitable to meet environments like power
substations, heating, ventilating, and other industrial
sources of interference. However, fiber has a very
low rate of bit error (10 EXP-13), because of fiber
being so resistant to electromagnetic interference.
Fiber optic transmission is virtually noise-free.
Low-Security Risk: Data or signals are transmitted
via light in fiber optic transmission. Therefore, there
is no way to detect the data being transmitted by
"listening in" to the electromagnetic energy "leaking"
through the cable, which ensures the absolute
security of information.
CONS OF OPTICAL FIBER
Fragility: Usually, optical fiber cables are made of
glass, which implies that they are more fragile than
various chemicals including hydrogen gas (a problem
in underwater cables), making them need more care
when deployed underground.
Difficult To Install: It's not easy to splice fiber optic
cable. And if you bend them too much, they will break.
Fiber cable is highly susceptible to becoming cut or
damaged during installation or construction
activities. All these make it difficult to install.
Attenuation & Dispersion: As transmission distance
gets longer, light will be attenuated and dispersed,
which requires extra optical components like EDFA to
be added.
Cost Is Higher Than Copper Cable: Even though
fiber optic installation costs are dropping by as much
as 60°/o a year, installing fiber optic cabling is still
relatively higher than copper cables. Because copper
cable installation does not need extra care like fiber
cables. However, optical fiber is still moving into the
local loop, and through technologies such as FT Tx
(fiber to the home, premises, etc.) and PONs (passive
optical networks), enabling subscriber and end-user
broadband access.
CONCLUSION
Fiber optic transmission is widely used for data
transmission and is increasingly being used in place
of metal wires because of its efficiency and high
transmission capacity. We have seen fiber optic
cables replace traditional copper twisted-pair cable
or coaxial cable. As the use and demand for great
bandwidth and fast speed, there is no doubt that fiber
optic transmission will bring more opportunities and
be continuously researched and expanded to cater to
future demands.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Physics Class 12 NCERT Textbook
www.google.com
www.wikipedia.com
www.byjus.com
www.techtarget.com
www.Britannica.com