About the definition of optical fiber

Optical fiber, optical fiber (optical fiber) short, is very familiar with a hot word.

In 1966, Charles Kao, the "father of optical fiber", published a historic paper, theoretically stating that optical fiber losses could be reduced to 20dB / km and used in communications.

In 1970, the American Corning (Corning) company developed the loss of 20dB / km quartz optical fiber, and the era of optical fiber communication was officially opened.

In 1973, Bell Laboratories built the world's first optical fiber optic communication system. Three years later, the world's first practical fiber-optic communication line was established between Atlanta and Washington. Since then, optical fiber communication technology has developed at an explosive speed, undergoing five generations of evolution in more than 30 years.

So, what is an optical fiber optic? We have excerpted the definition of optical fiber given by some authorities (departments).

1. Encyclopedia (Encyclopedia), citing McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Technical Terminology)

 A long, thin thread of fused silica, or other transparent substance, used to transmit light.Also known as light guide.

A slender line made of molten silica or other transparent substance for transmitting light, also known as light guide.

Wikipedia Encyclopedia (Wikipedia)

An optical fiber (or fibre in British 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 fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of glass (silica) or plastic, with a diameter slightly thicker than a human hair.

3. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition (American Traditional English Dictionary)

 A flexible transparent fiber of extremely pure glass or plastic, generally between 10 and 200 microns in diameter, through which light can be transmitted by successive internal reflections, commonly used in telecommunications.

A flexible transparent fiber composed of ultrapure glass or plastic, usually with a diameter between 10-200 μ m, within which light can propagate by continuous reflection and is usually used for communication.

4. RP Photonics Encyclopedia (RP Encyclopedia of Photonics)

 A kind of long and thin optical waveguides which can be bent to some degree.

An elongated optical waveguide that can be bent to some extent.

5. Baidu Encyclopedia (entry compilation and application of "Science Popularization China")

Optical fiber is a sketch of optical fiber, which is a fiber made of glass or plastic, which can be used as a light conduction tool. The principle of transmission is, "the total reflection of light".

Nanjing HECHO company believes that optical fiber is a slender fiber that can transmit information and energy. Optical fiber materials can be glass, plastic, etc. Because some optical fibers are opaque, and some optical fibers are not flexible.

Baidu encyclopedia lists a lot of optical fiber name: single mode optical fiber, multimode optical fiber, quartz fiber, fluoride optical fiber, infrared fiber, composite fiber, fluoride fiber, plastic fiber, plastic optical fiber, dispersion displacement fiber, dispersion flat optical fiber, dispersion compensation optical fiber, polarization fiber, birefringent optical fiber, optical fiber resistance environment, sealing coating fiber, carbon coating optical fiber, metal coating fiber, rare earth fiber, laman fiber, eccentric fiber, luminous fiber, fiber core optical fiber, hollow optical fiber, polymer optical fiber, and so on.

There are many kinds of optical fiber, different functions and various names, how to classify optical fiber? ITU-T (International Telecommunication Union) divides communications optical fiber into seven categories: G651-G657. Optical fiber used for communication, also known as standard optical fiber, conventional optical fiber.

If simply the optical fiber is divided into communication fiber and non-communication fiber, it is very unscientific and will cause the confusion of optical fiber classification.

"Communication" in "communication" is transmission and exchange; "letter" is information (voice, image, data). Communication is the transmission and exchange of information, which is transmitted from one party to the other in the form of electrical signals or optical signals.

The glass optical fiber on the market obviously does not belong to the communication optical fiber delineated by ITU-T, but the PCR instrument uses optical fiber, microplate meter optical fiber, power optical cable, flame detection optical fiber, circuit board defect detection optical fiber and other products, using the communication function of glass optical fiber, is a short distance "communication optical fiber".

Optical fiber for sensing and detection, because to transmit information and decoding information, belong to short distance "communication optical fiber", and optical transmission (lighting), energy transmission (laser cutting, laser surgery, laser lithotripsy, laser acupuncture, photodynamic therapy, etc.) optical energy transmission path, without decoding information, belongs to "non-communication optical fiber".

In addition, the term "communication fiber optic" is inappropriate."Modern Chinese Dictionary" the 7th edition: "communication" for communication ② (using radio waves, light waves and other signals to transmit text, images, etc. According to the different signal mode, can be divided into analog communication and digital communication) of the old name. Therefore, "communication optical fiber" is the current standard word.

There is also "optical fiber for transmission" is not rigorous, because a single optical fiber generally can not be transmitted. A number of optical fiber is arranged regularly, made into optical fiber transmission beam can realize the transmission function.

In the National Bureau of Statistics, optical fiber has three categories: single mode optical fiber (code 3910010100), multimode optical fiber (code 3910010200) and special optical fiber (code 3910010300).

"Statistics with product classification directory" is the whole social economic activities of product standard classification and unified coding, it is applicable to all the product object statistical survey activities, can meet the national economic accounting, industry, agricultural product output statistics and production price statistics, and other statistical survey demand for product classification, for the census, special investigation and conventional statistical survey provide product catalog and framework.

Therefore, Nanjing HECHO Company believes that it is reasonable to divide optical fiber into conventional fiber (communication fiber) and special fiber. In addition to ITU-T G651-G657, the rest of the optical fiber belongs to special fiber, which is also conducive to the national statistics and accounting of domestic enterprises.

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