Fiber-optic Communication

Optical fiber is an excellent tool for transporting light beams—both signals and energy. Optical fiber is used by many telecommunications companies to transmit telephone signals, internet communication, and cable television signals. It is also used in other industries, including medical, defense, government, industrial and commercial. 

Optical fibers used in the industrial and medical fields usually consist of silica cores and cladding with diameters of 100 to 1000 µm, thicker than telecommunication fibers, and with the necessary precautions to transport highly energetic beams of a specific wavelength. Lasers such as CO2 or erbium-YAG, however, are not transportable with large-core optical fibers but are paired with hollow waveguides.