Optical fibers

Abstract

The chapter starts with the fundamentals of light propagation in optical fibers followed by the essentials of fiber fabrication. Subsequent sections focus on typical loss and dispersion characteristics of single-mode and multimode fibers including relevant information on standardization. The basic elements of fiber cables and cables for various applications constitute another topic followed by new developments such as micro-structured and Bragg fibers, hybrid devices combining glass fibers and semiconductors and fibers for space division multiplexing.