Fiber Optics

The laserfocusworld.com Fiber Optics channel features articles and other content that discuss optical fiber types and applications of fiber optics.

Highlights

(Image credit: MicroCare)
Microscopic dust, oils, or other contaminants on fiber ends or along the cable length can severely degrade performance.
Fiber Optics

Clean fiber optics are critical for laser performance and to prevent damage

Nov. 3, 2023
Contamination and the fiber fuse effect can have disastrous consequences for laser performance. Learn how to keep your optical systems performing at their best.
(Courtesy of Michael Baker)
FIGURE 1. Along 37.4 km of the fiber optic cable, the researchers observed abrupt changes up to about 10 km that occurred in less than 24 hours.
Fiber Optics

Sensing method uses fiber-optic cable to track sea ice

Sept. 4, 2023
Global temperatures are soaring, sea ice is retreating. Climate change is real, and it’s happening fast. Scientists are turning to fiber-optic cables and sensors to monitor sea...
(Courtesy of Arnaldo Leal-Junior, UFES)
FIGURE 1. Smart pants integrated with 30 polymer optical fiber sensors in each leg (inset) can noninvasively track a person’s movements and specifically identify the activities.
Fiber Optics

Smarty-pants: Integrated fiber-optic fabrics

Aug. 7, 2023
Fiber-optic sensors are poised to provide information about its wearer’s types of movement and how it’s impacting their health.
(Courtesy of Macquarie University; inset courtesy of NICT)
FIGURE 1. Simon Gross, an ARC Future Fellow at the Macquarie University School of Engineering, works with the new multicore optical fiber setup; the new 19-core optical fiber is shown in the inset.
Fiber Optics

19-core optical fiber is the world’s fastest

July 11, 2023
An advancement in optical fiber produces the equivalent of 10 million high-speed home internet connections at full capacity.
(Courtesy of Precision OT)
The LC connector (left), which features a smaller ferrule size and latch mechanism, is ideal for high-density patch applications within the fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) space. However, to support more fibers in individual ferrules, the industry introduced the multiple fiber push-on/pull-off (MTP/MPO) connector, which can support up to 24 fibers in a single ferrule for use in high-density environments like data centers. But MTP/MPO connectors must be mated to an opposing male (center) or female (right) connector, which can lead to higher inventory costs.
Fiber Optics

Impact of DWDM on passive optical network component choices

July 3, 2023
As network engineers strive to meet the ever-growing demand for bandwidth, their choice of passive optical network (PON) components, including connectors, splitters, and muxes...
(Image credit: Lingjie Kong)
FIGURE 1. Schematic of neurochemical sensing in vivo with FOPECs.
Bio&Life Sciences

Plug-and-play fiber-optic sensors based on engineered cells enable in vivo monitoring of neurochemicals

July 20, 2023
Researchers in China develop fiber-optic tool based on engineered cells (FOPECs) for real-time sensing of neurochemicals at high specificity in a variety of animal species and...
(Courtesy of Optical Zonu)
Meir Bartur, cofounder and CEO of Optical Zonu.
Fiber Optics

Faces in Photonics: Meir Bartur, Optical Zonu

June 27, 2023
Meet Meir Bartur, cofounder and CEO of Optical Zonu, a provider of radio-frequency-over-fiber (RFoF) transport solutions.
Osx 100 Front Screen
Fiber Optics

Polarization-maintaining optical switch offers ±0.005 dB repeatability

June 21, 2023
The OSX-100 polarization-maintaining optical switch has use in applications such as lab and R&D, automated device testing, or high-volume production testing.
Marvell
Fiber Optics

Electro-optics platform enables cloud-optimized 51.2 Tbit/s networking

June 4, 2023
The Nova 1.6 Tbit/s PAM4 electro-optics platform is designed for cloud artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) and data center networks.