Fiber optic - A fiber optic light guide consists of a non-coherent bundle of optical fibers. The fibers at each end of the bundle are tightly compressed, cut perpendicular to the axis of the fibers, and polished to permi t light to pass into and out of the bundle. Light guides are sometimes called light pipes (lightpipes). Such fibers are widely used in fiber-optic communication, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at higher bandwidths (data transfer rates) than. Optical waveguides such as optical fibers typically trap and guide light within rectangular or cylindrical boundaries over useful distances. Rectangular shapes are easier to implement on integrated circuits, while cylindrical shapes are used for longer distances, up to 100 km or more. They have a central core surrounded by a concentric cladding with slightly lower (by ≈ 1%) refractive index. The customer-specific products are used, among other things, in power plant monitoring, medical ptic components into their overall solutions.
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