Fiber optics is the combination of applied science and engineering that concerns the design and application of optical fibers. Optical fibers are glass of plastic fibers that carry light along the length; they’re used for communicating purposes over long distances and with higher bandwidths or data rates. Fiber optic cables are less vulnerable than metal cables to interference; they are thinner and lighter than metal wires. Data passed through fiber optics can be transmitted digitally, which is similar to how computer data is transferred, rather than having them transmitted analogically.

Fiber optics can also be compared to copper wire systems. Only that, fiber optics use light pulses to transmit information through fiber lines instead of using electronic pulses used by the copper wire system. An elaborated description is that a fiber optic system in fiber optic cabling has one end that will act as a transmitter, the transmitter will serve as the source of information, and transmitters will accept coded electronic pulse information coming from copper wire. After, the information is processed and translated into equivalent light pulses. Either a light-emitting diode (LED) or an injection-laser diode (ILD) is used to generate light pulses. A lens is then used to funnel the light pulses into the fiber-optic medium where they travel down the cable. The light is 850 nm for a shorter distance and 1,300 nm for longer distances on a multimode fiber. For a single-mode fiber a 1300nm for short distances and 1,500 nm light is used for longer ones.

The use of fiber optics is becoming popular for local area networks. This is because light pulses move easily down the fiber-optic line because of a principle known as total internal infection. The principle states that when an angle of angle of incidence exceeds a critical venue, the needed light cannot get out of the glass; instead this light bounces back in. The core of the fiber optics strands have to be very clear and made from a pure material, cores can also be made from plastic, but most of all from glass. Glass fiber optic strands are always made from pure silica but also sometimes in flourozirconate, flouroaluminate, and chalcogenide glasses which are used for longer-wavelength infrared applications.

There are three types of optic cable used, single mode, multimode and plastic optical fiber. A single mode cable is composed of a single strand of glass fiber usually with a diameter of 8.3 to 10 microns that uses one mode of transmission. Multimode cables have bigger diameters and use two fibers; they can also give you high bandwidths at high speeds. The last, plastic optical fibers are newer plastic-based cables that promise to perform similar to glass cables on very short runs but at lower costs.

These days, a lot of telecommunication companies are making improvements and innovations that would improve the wavelength longer allowing for more possibilities in communications. Fiber optics open a lot of opportunities in communication, they provide easier, faster, and more convenient ways of transmitting data rather than what traditional cable systems have to offer.