Fiberoptisia

Fiberoptisia, commonly called fiber optics in English, is a field of photonics and telecommunications that uses optical fibers to transmit light signals over long distances with high bandwidth. Optical fibers are flexible strands of glass or plastic that guide light through the core by total internal reflection. The technology underpins modern communication networks, medical imaging, sensing, and illumination.

Optical principles include a core surrounded by a cladding with a lower refractive index. When light is launched into the core at a suitable angle, it is guided along the length while remaining confined in the core due to total internal reflection. Signal quality depends on attenuation, dispersion, and nonlinear effects, which vary with wavelength, fiber design, and materials. Typical telecommunications wavelengths are around 1310 and 1550 nanometers in silica fibers, where loss is minimized. Fiber types include single-mode fibers for long distances and high-speed links, and multimode fibers for shorter links; graded-index designs reduce modal dispersion.

The concept of guiding light by total internal reflection was understood in the 19th century, and modern fiberoptisia emerged in the mid-20th century. In the 1960s and 1970s, research by Kao and Hockham and by Corning Glass Works led to practical, low-loss glass fibers enabling early telecommunications use. Commercial deployment expanded in the 1980s and 1990s, driven by demand for higher bandwidth.

Fiberoptisia is essential to telecommunications networks, data centers, and internet backbones, enabling high-speed communications with low electromagnetic interference. It is also used in medical endoscopy, industrial sensing, laser delivery, and environmental monitoring. Current developments include bend-insensitive and multicore fibers, coherent transmission, and specialty fibers such as photonic crystal and hollow-core types.