Fiber Optics : Physics and Technology

Telephone, telefax, email and internet -- the key ingredient of the inner workings is the conduit: the line which is designed to carry massive amounts of data at breakneck speed. In their data-carrying capacity optical fiber lines beat other technologies (copper cable, microwave beacons, satellite links) hands down, at least in the long haul. This book tells you all you want to know about optical fibers: Their structure, their light-guiding mechanism, their material and manufacture, their use. Several effects tend to degrade the signal as it travels down the fiber: they are spelled out in detail. Nonlinear processes are given due consideration for a twofold reason: On the one hand they are fundamentally different from the more familiar processes in electrical cable. On the other hand, they form the basis of particularly interesting and innovative applications, provided they are understood well enough. A case in point is the use of so-called solitons, i.e. special pulses of light which have the wonderful property of being able to heal after perturbation. The book will take you from the physical basics of ray and beam optics, explain fiber structure and the functions of optical elements, and bring you to the forefront of applications. The state of the art of high speed data transmission will be described, and the use of fiber optic sensors in metrology is treated. The book is written in a pedagogical style so that students of both physics and electrical engineering, as well as technicians and engineers involved in optical technologies, will benefit. Prof. Fedor Mitschke, a German physicist, was involved in pioneering work on fiber-optic solitons at Bell Laboratories in 1985-86. He has held teaching positions at universities in Hannover, Munich, Munster, and Rostock (all in Germany). Since 1997 he holds the chair for optics at the Institute of Physics at Rostock University. This book grew out of lectures he gave at Hannover, Munster, Rostock, and as visiting professor in Lule, Sweden. Annotation Telephone, telefax, email and internet - the key ingredient of the inner workings is the conduit: the line which is designed to carry massive amounts of data at breakneck speed. In their data-carrying capacity optical fiber lines beat other technologies (copper cable, microwave beacons, satellite links) hands down, at least in the long haul. This book is a comprehensive source about optical fibers: Their structure, their light-guiding mechanism, their material and manufacture, their use. Several effects tend to degrade the signal as it travels down the fiber: they are spelled out in detail. Nonlinear processes are given due consideration for a twofold reason: On one hand they are fundamentally different from the more familiar processes in electrical cable. On the other hand, they form the basis of particularly interesting and innovative applications, provided they are understood well enough. A case in point is the use of so-called solitons, i.e. special pulses of light which have the wonderful property of being able to heal after perturbation. The book starts with the physical basics of ray and beam optics, explains fiber structure and the functions of optical elements, and continues to the forefront of applications. The state of the art of high speed data transmission will be described, and the use of fiber optic sensors in metrology is treated. The book is written in a pedagogical style so that students of both physics and electrical engineering, as well as technicians and engineers involved in optical technologies, will benefit Front Matter....Pages i-xi Front Matter....Pages 1-1 A Quick Survey....Pages 3-12 Front Matter....Pages 13-13 Treatment with Ray Optics....Pages 15-24 Treatment with Wave Optics....Pages 25-45 Chromatic Dispersion....Pages 47-74 Losses....Pages 75-84 Front Matter....Pages 85-85 Manufacturing and Mechanical Properties....Pages 87-100 How to Measure Important Fiber Characteristics....Pages 101-115 Components for Fiber Technology....Pages 117-149 Front Matter....Pages 151-151 Basics of Nonlinear Processes....Pages 153-191 A Survey of Nonlinear Processes....Pages 193-208 Front Matter....Pages 209-209 Applications in Telecommunications....Pages 211-245 Fiber-Optic Sensors....Pages 247-256 Front Matter....Pages 258-258 Decibel Units....Pages 259-261 Skin Effect....Pages 263-264 Bessel Functions....Pages 265-267 Optics with Gaussian Beams....Pages 269-272 Relations for Secans Hyperbolicus....Pages 273-274 Autocorrelation Measurement....Pages 275-280 Back Matter....Pages 281-301 The data-carrying capacity of optical fiber lines is exceptionally more efficient than competing technologies. Fiber Optics provides an overview of the physical fundamentals of ray and beam optics, fiber structure in addition to practical applications.