In
telecommunications
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
and
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 ...
, a plastic-clad silica fiber or polymer-clad silica fiber (PCS) is an
optical fiber
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 ...
that has a
silica
Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one ...
-based core and a plastic
cladding. The cladding of a PCS fiber should not be confused with the polymer overcoat of a conventional
all-silica fiber
All-silica fiber, or silica-silica fiber, is an optical fiber whose core and cladding are made of silica glass. The refractive index of the core glass is higher than that of the cladding. These fibers are typically step-index fibers. The cladd ...
.
Usage
The main applications of plastic-clad silica fiber are industrial,
medical or sensing applications where cores that are larger than those used in standard data communications fibers are advantageous.
PCS fibers in general have significantly lower performance characteristics, particularly higher
transmission
Transmission may refer to:
Medicine, science and technology
* Power transmission
** Electric power transmission
** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power
*** Automatic transmission
*** Manual transmission
*** ...
losses and lower bandwidths, than
all-glass fibers.
See also
*
Plastic optical fiber
*
Hard-clad silica optical fiber Hard-clad silica (HCS) or polymer-clad fiber (PCF) is an optical fiber with a core of silica glass (diameter: 200 µm) and an optical cladding made of special plastic (diameter: 230 µm). In contrast to all-silica fiber, the core and cla ...
References
*
External links
Fiber Optic Drop CableFiber Cable Anchor Clamp
Optical fiber
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