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The Fascinating Story of Optical Fiber

gbic-shop.de
2020-06-01 / Deutsch

The history of fibers is not new as it can be traced back to ancient Roman times. However, the Chappe brothers of France came ahead with the very first “optical telegraph” in the 1790s. This was the first device to use the concept of light switching for relaying messages in both directions. Afterward, in the 19th century, large scale developments were observed in the field of optical communications. Let us proceed with a brief history of fiber!

A Brief History of Optical Fibers

19th Century Developments - Summarized

In the 1840s, scientists Jacques Babinet and Daniel Collodon demonstrated through experiments that light could be directed to follow the path of water-primarily for fountain displays. Later, in 1854 a physicist from Britain “John Tyndall” proved the tendency of light through an arched stream of water. This bending tendency of light along with a curried stream of water was also confirmed by Babinet, who used a tank of water fitted with an outgoing pipe. When the light was shone into the tank, an arc of water trailed the water as it flows.

Then comes 1880 when Alexander Graham Bell got his first patent approved for an optical telephone system. But we all know, Graham’s later invention, the telephone proved more successful. In the same year, William Walter shared a brilliant idea with the world and invented a centralized illumination system consisting of several interconnected pipes with a special coating material. This system was designed for efficient transferring of light from one source to various consumers; such as from the basement of a home to various rooms. However, the invention of the light bulb by Thomas Edison became a popular choice.

Physicians Reuss and Roth also contributed to this field as in 1888 they invented a system comprising of bent glass rods to illuminate body cavities. This was further improved by Henri Saint-Rose – a French engineer who used a series of bent glass rods for the transmission of light images. It can be called a premature attempt on television. In 1898, David Smith from America patented a dental illuminator comprised of a curved rod of glass.

20th Century Developments – Summarized

In the 1920s a patent was obtained by Logie Baird for using transparent rod arrays to transmit visuals for television. On the other hand, Clarence W.Hansell utilized the same contribution to facsimiles. During 1930, Heinrich Laman achieved great success as he managed to transmit images utilizing a bundle of fibers. The first image he transmitted was of the filament of a light bulk. Lamn’s intensions were to use his system to look inside the human body. However, during the World War II Lamn was fled to America to seek political asylum and he abandoned the work he was doing.

In 1938, Alec Reeves in Pairs discovered the tendency of the light signal to get converted from analog signals to digital signals for reception. This idea was constructed upon a system called Pulse Code Modulation; during Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) the amplitude of an analog signal is sampled periodically and later translated into a digital binary code. PCM technology remained unused before it was adopted by AT&T in 1962.

In the year 1951, a patent for fiber-optic imaging was applied by Holger Moeller – a Danish Physicist. He proposed coating plastic or glass fibers with a very low index material. However, his patent was denied because of Hansel’s and Baird’s patents. Three years later Harold H. Van and Abraham Van Heel came ahead with a cladded fiber performance and dealt more efficiently with issues such as signal interference and crosstalk. In 1954, “maser” was developed by Charles Townes and his team at Columbia University. The abbreviation of maser is “microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”.

Back then, the laser was not introduced as an efficient source of light. Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes intended to prove that their maser could operate in both infrared and optical regions. The first continuously operating gas laser became known in 1960. It was a helium-neon gas laser. That same year, an operable and commercially viable laser was invented with the help of a synthetic pink ruby crystal.

The Inception of Single-Mode Fiber

In the year 1961, Elias Snitzer published a theoretical description of SMF (single-mode fibers) with a core so tiny that it could carry a single wavelength of light. He also managed to display a laser directed through a thin strand of glass fiber. However, this system was impractical for communication applications due to high losses.

IN 1964, George Hockham and Charles Kao from England published a paper about the possible means of removal of the impurities from fiberglass stands for the curtailment of light losses.

In the year 1970 a team of scientists working at Corning Glass works managed to produce a single-mode fiber that can operate with a reasonable attenuation (<20db/km). This result was achieved as they doped silica glass with titanium. Peter Schultz, Donald Keck, Frank Zimar, and Robert Maurer were the four scientists from the Coming Glass Works who managed to break the attenuation barrier – and achievement that marked the production of viable optical fiber for communications. In 1973, a group of scientists from an institute in Leningrad introduced a semiconductor diode laser capable of emitting continuous waves at room temperature.

Fiber and Telephony

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s telephone companies relied on fiber in their communication networks. In the middle of the 1980s sprint deployed its firs, purely digital nationwide fiber network. The year 1986 brought erbium-doped fiber amplifier – achievement by Emmanuel Desurvire and David Payne that lead to a substantial reduction in the cost of long-distance systems deployment. The first transatlantic telephone cable was commissioned in 1988 with the help of Desurvire’s technology of laser amplification.

Massive Deployments

In the year 1991, Payne and Desurvire demonstrated optical amplifiers that were integrated into the optical fiber cable itself. This integrated system came with a tendency to process almost one hundred times more information than a cable equipped with electronic amplifiers. Photonic crystal fiber also emerged in the same year. This fiber supports a more efficient transfer of power than conventional cable as it capitalizes on the phenomenon of light diffraction.

The TPC-5 a huge optical fiber cable was laid across the Pacific Ocean bank in 1996. Later, in 1997 the deployment of FLAG (Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe was completed. FLAG became the foundation stone for the next generation of internet applications.

Conclusion

  • Fiber optics is one of the cheapest and most efficient means of communication.
  • We can find its use in a broad array of industries for a variety of applications.
  • The concept of light being used for the transmission of information was not new as its roots can take us back to the ancient times.
  • Extensive work in this field throughout the last century made it a preferred choice for communication across the globe.

 

 


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