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Photonic-crystal Fiber
Photonic-crystal fiber (PCF) is a class of optical fiber based on the properties of photonic crystals. It was first explored in 1996 at University of Bath, UK. Because of its ability to confine light in hollow cores or with confinement characteristics not possible in conventional optical fiber, PCF is now finding applications in fiber-optic communications, fiber lasers, nonlinear devices, high-power transmission, highly sensitive gas sensors, and other areas. More specific categories of PCF include photonic-bandgap fiber (PCFs that confine light by band gap effects), holey fiber (PCFs using air holes in their cross-sections), ''hole-assisted'' fiber (PCFs guiding light by a conventional higher-index core modified by the presence of air holes), and Bragg fiber (photonic-bandgap fiber formed by concentric rings of multilayer film). Photonic crystal fibers may be considered a subgroup of a more general class of microstructured optical fibers, where light is guided by structural m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silica Glass
Fused quartz, fused silica or quartz glass is a glass consisting of almost pure silica (silicon dioxide, SiO2) in amorphous (non-crystalline) form. This differs from all other commercial glasses in which other ingredients are added which change the glasses' optical and physical properties, such as lowering the melt temperature. Fused quartz, therefore, has high working and melting temperatures, making it less desirable for most common applications. The terms fused quartz and fused silica are used interchangeably, but can refer to different manufacturing techniques, as noted below, resulting in different trace impurities. However fused quartz, being in the glassy state, has quite different physical properties compared to crystalline quartz. Due to its physical properties it finds specialty uses in semiconductor fabrication and laboratory equipment, for instance. Compared to other common glasses, the optical transmission of pure silica extends well into the ultraviolet and infra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Max Planck Institute For The Science Of Light
The Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) performs basic research in optical metrology, optical communication, new optical materials, plasmonics and nanophotonics and optical applications in biology and medicine. It is part of the Max Planck Society and was founded on January 1, 2009 in Erlangen near Nuremberg. The institute is based on the Max Planck Research Group "Optics, Information and Photonics", which was founded in 2004 at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, as a precursor. The institute currently comprises four divisions. Structure The institute currently is organized in four divisions, each led by a director with equal rights. The institute researchers are supported by several scientifically active technology development and service units. It is also the home of several Max Planck Research Groups that are organizationally independent of the divisions. The MPL hosts an ''International Max Planck Research School Physics of Light' Through the appointment ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subwavelength-diameter Optical Fiber
A subwavelength-diameter optical fibre (SDF or SDOF) is an optical fibre whose diameter is less than the wavelength of the light being propagated through it. An SDF usually consists of long thick parts (same as conventional optical fibres) at both ends, transition regions (tapers) where the fibre diameter gradually decreases down to the subwavelength value, and a subwavelength-diameter waist, which is the main acting part. Due to such a strong geometrical confinement, the guided electromagnetic field in an SDF is restricted to a single mode called ''fundamental''. Name There is no general agreement on how these optical elements are to be named; different groups prefer to emphasize different properties of such fibres, sometimes even using different terms. The names in use include subwavelength waveguide, subwavelength optical wire, subwavelength-diameter silica wire, subwavelength diameter fibre taper, (photonic) wire waveguide, photonic wire, photonic nanowire, optical nanowires, o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Optical Medium
An optical medium is material through which light and other electromagnetic waves propagate. It is a form of transmission medium. The permittivity and permeability of the medium define how electromagnetic waves propagate in it. Properties The optical medium has an '' intrinsic impedance'', given by ::\eta = where E_x and H_y are the electric field and magnetic field, respectively. In a region with no electrical conductivity, the expression simplifies to: ::\eta = \sqrt\ . For example, in free space the intrinsic impedance is called the characteristic impedance of vacuum, denoted ''Z''0, and ::Z_0 = \sqrt\ . Waves propagate through a medium with velocity c_w = \nu \lambda , where \nu is the frequency and \lambda is the wavelength of the electromagnetic waves. This equation also may be put in the form : c_w = \ , where \omega is the angular frequency of the wave and k is the wavenumber of the wave. In electrical engineering, the symbol \beta, called the ''phase constant'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Optical Communication
Optical communication, also known as optical telecommunication, is communication at a distance using light to carry information. It can be performed visually or by using electronic devices. The earliest basic forms of optical communication date back several millennia, while the earliest electrical device created to do so was the photophone, invented in 1880. An optical communication system uses a transmitter, which encodes a message into an optical signal, a channel, which carries the signal to its destination, and a receiver, which reproduces the message from the received optical signal. When electronic equipment is not employed the 'receiver' is a person visually observing and interpreting a signal, which may be either simple (such as the presence of a beacon fire) or complex (such as lights using color codes or flashed in a Morse code sequence). Modern communication relies on optical networking systems using optical fiber, optical amplifiers, lasers, switches, routers, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leaky Mode
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Leakey may refer to: *Leakey, Texas, U.S., a city *Leakey (crater), a lunar impact crater *Leakey (surname) *7958 Leakey, an asteroid *Leakey Independent School District, a public school district based in Leakey, Texas See also *Leak (other) __NOTOC__ A leak is a way for matter to escape a container. Leak may also refer to: Information leaks * News leak, the unsanctioned release of confidential information to news media * Data leak ** Internet leak, a release of confidential informati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gradient Index Optics
Gradient-index (GRIN) optics is the branch of optics covering optical effects produced by a gradient of the refractive index of a material. Such gradual variation can be used to produce lenses with flat surfaces, or lenses that do not have the aberrations typical of traditional spherical lenses. Gradient-index lenses may have a refraction gradient that is spherical, axial, or radial. In nature The lens of the eye is the most obvious example of gradient-index optics in nature. In the human eye, the refractive index of the lens varies from approximately 1.406 in the central layers down to 1.386 in less dense layers of the lens. This allows the eye to image with good resolution and low aberration at both short and long distances. Another example of gradient index optics in nature is the common mirage of a pool of water appearing on a road on a hot day. The pool is actually an image of the sky, apparently located on the road since light rays are being refracted (bent) from their n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiber Optics
An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber and find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at higher bandwidths (data transfer rates) than electrical cables. Fibers are used instead of metal wires because signals travel along them with less loss; in addition, fibers are immune to electromagnetic interference, a problem from which metal wires suffer. Fibers are also used for illumination and imaging, and are often wrapped in bundles so they may be used to carry light into, or images out of confined spaces, as in the case of a fiberscope. Specially designed fibers are also used for a variety of other applications, some of them being fiber optic sensors and fiber lasers. O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polarization (waves)
Polarization (also polarisation) is a property applying to transverse waves that specifies the geometrical orientation of the oscillations. In a transverse wave, the direction of the oscillation is perpendicular to the direction of motion of the wave. A simple example of a polarized transverse wave is vibrations traveling along a taut string ''(see image)''; for example, in a musical instrument like a guitar string. Depending on how the string is plucked, the vibrations can be in a vertical direction, horizontal direction, or at any angle perpendicular to the string. In contrast, in longitudinal waves, such as sound waves in a liquid or gas, the displacement of the particles in the oscillation is always in the direction of propagation, so these waves do not exhibit polarization. Transverse waves that exhibit polarization include electromagnetic waves such as light and radio waves, gravitational waves, and transverse sound waves (shear waves) in solids. An electromagnetic wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Refractive Index Contrast
Refractive index contrast, in an optical waveguide, such as an optical fiber, is a measure of the relative difference in refractive index of the core and cladding. The refractive index contrast, Δ, is often given by \Delta=, where ''n''1 is the maximum refractive index in the core (or simply the core index for a step-index profile) and ''n''2 is the refractive index of the cladding. The criterion ''n''2 < ''n''1 must be satisfied in order to sustain a guided mode by . Alternative formulations include and . Normal optical fibers, constructed of different |
Total Internal Reflection
Total internal reflection (TIR) is the optical phenomenon in which waves arriving at the interface (boundary) from one medium to another (e.g., from water to air) are not refracted into the second ("external") medium, but completely reflected back into the first ("internal") medium. It occurs when the second medium has a higher wave speed (i.e., lower refractive index) than the first, and the waves are incident at a sufficiently oblique angle on the interface. For example, the water-to-air surface in a typical fish tank, when viewed obliquely from below, reflects the underwater scene like a mirror with no loss of brightness (Fig.1). TIR occurs not only with electromagnetic waves such as light and microwaves, but also with other types of waves, including sound and water waves. If the waves are capable of forming a narrow beam (Fig.2), the reflection tends to be described in terms of "rays" rather than waves; in a medium whose properties are independent of direction, such as air, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
