A shaft, spindle or any object generally passed through a workpiece to hold, support or shape a particular piece during its machining process or its practical use. In fiber optics, optical fibers are often wrapped around a cylindrical mandrel rod to...

The number of channels per unit bandwidth handled by a single optical fiber.

A defect in the cleaved end face of an optical fiber, defined as multiple surface irregularities across the fiber surface. A...

Nondestructive measurement of the delta and alpha of clad optical fibers that involves interferometry with the fiber...

When splitting the output of a single optical fiber into two or more fibers, the difference in the maximum loss between any...

A technology that uses electrically activated holograms stored within specially developed crystals to route information in...

A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is a type of optical filter that is inscribed or "written" into the core of an optical fiber. It...

Rare earth dopants refer to elements from the lanthanide series, also known as rare earth elements, that are intentionally...

In optical fiber, bends that are larger than microbends (see microbending), being visible. Generally they are caused by...

A measurement technique used to determine the spatial distribution profile of an electrical or optical quantity of interest...

The variation in attenuation among the propagating modes of an optical fiber.

A method for measuring the index profile of an optical fiber by measuring the reflectance as a function of position on the...

Double-clad fiber (DCF) is a specialized optical fiber that features two concentric cladding layers surrounding a core. The...

In a fiber optic guided missile, the point at which the optical fiber pays out from the bobbin on which it is wound.

The angle between the light input propagation vector and the optical axis of an optical fiber or fiber bundle.

A defect in the cleaved end face of an optical fiber, in the form of a sharp protrusion at the edge of the fiber.

1. A piece of glass with plane parallel surfaces used to admit light into an optical system and to exclude dirt and...

1. A group of optical fibers that are fused and then treated to produce a vacuum-tight optical fiber cone or plate. 2. An...

A Kerr soliton refers to a specific type of soliton, a self-reinforcing wave packet, that arises in nonlinear optical...

Plastic optical fiber (POF) is a type of optical fiber made from transparent plastic, typically polymethylmethacrylate...

Stress applied to an optical fiber at a constant rate.

1. A localized fracture at the end of a cleaved optical fiber or on a glass surface. 2. An integrated circuit.

A means of testing optical fiber for macrobending losses by wrapping the fiber once at very low tension around a mandrel,...

In the fabrication of an optical fiber, a layer that can be used to create a boundary against OH-ion diffusion into the core.

The recording of the information contained in a modulated electron beam onto photographic or silicon resin-coated materials....

Optical fiber optic switches are devices used in optical fiber communication systems to selectively route optical signals...

A fiber optic preform is a cylindrical glass rod or tube used as the starting material for manufacturing optical fibers. It...

Optical strain sensors are devices that utilize optical principles to measure the deformation or strain experienced by a...

A laser whose pulses are expanded, using gratings and optical fibers, before amplification and compressed to increase beam...

A modulator is a device or component that modifies a carrier signal in order to encode information for transmission over a...

A property of optical fiber that results from thermal stresses during manufacturing and is defined as the amount of...

Multimode straight fiber capable of transporting linearly polarized light with any incident polarization angle, and in which...

Ultraviolet (UV) fiber optics refers to optical fibers that are designed and optimized for the transmission of ultraviolet...

Protective material surrounding the cladding of an optical fiber that allows the fiber no play within it.

A fiber-coupled LED (light-emitting diode) refers to an LED device that is optically coupled to an optical fiber for the...

A fiber optic cable assembly refers to a complete unit consisting of optical fibers, connectors, protective jackets, and...

The mechanical centerline through the core of an optical fiber.

A type of optical fiber in which a silica core is surrounded by a hard polymer or similar material much stronger than the...

The light-conducting portion of an optical fiber, defined by the region of high refractive index.

A method of optical fiber coupling in which the fibers are ground down to expose their cores and placed together to allow...

A protective jacket added to an optical fiber to facilitate use in harsh environments. Armor usually consists of steel or...

Measure of the interference fringe pattern produced by the forward scattering of light by an optical fiber; the fringe...

In polarization-preserving optical fibers, the element used to induce birefringence. The SAP is highly doped to provide a...

A curve expressing an optical fiber's total transmitted power as a function of its launch angle at the input.

A coherent fiber bundle (CFB), also known as a coherent fiber optic bundle, is an assembly of multiple optical fibers...

An infrared-transmitting optical fiber with a hollow core; it can be square, round or rectangular in cross section. Capable...

A change in the refractive index of an optical fiber caused by variation in the length of the fiber core in response to...

A defect in the cleaved end face of an optical fiber in which a portion of the edge has broken away; the complement of lip.

A fiber-coupled photoconductive antenna (FCPA) is a type of optoelectronic device that combines a photoconductive antenna...

The method for measuring the index profile of an optical fiber or preform by illuminating it coherently and transversely to...

Germanium crystal refers to a crystalline form of the element germanium (Ge), which is a metalloid and semiconductor...

A bundle of optical fibers arranged randomly for the purpose of transmitting energy, not an image.

In optical fiber, sharp but microscopic curvatures that create local axial displacements of a few microns and spatial...

A glass structure from which an optical fiber waveguide may be drawn.

Chalcogenide refers to a class of compounds containing elements from group 16 of the periodic table, which includes sulfur...

The condition in which the index of refraction in an optical fiber varies as a parabolic function of the radius.

The condition of the numerical aperture or beam diameter of the laser, LED, or other optical source being larger than the...

A package for an optical fiber or fibers that may include cladding, buffering, strength members and an outer jacket.

Optical fiber capable of operating at both a shorter and a longer wavelength.

Optical fiber channel characterization scheme based on three assumptions; the discrete mode spectrum can be replaced by a...

Laser-powered telephone device for analog communications that employs a vibrating plastic membrane as a transmitter to...

Glass consisting of almost pure silicon dioxide (SiO2). Also called vitreous silica. Frequently used in optical fibers and...

Optical manufacturing tools and machinery encompass a wide range of equipment, instruments, and systems used in the...

Optical fiber in which the attenuation exceeds the normally acceptable level for long-haul or data communications use.

An arrangement of optical fibers in a bundle whereby the geometric configuration of the input end differs from that of the...

Descriptive of an optical fiber having a core refractive index that decreases almost parabolically and radially outward...

A splice accomplished by the application of localized heat sufficient to fuse or melt the ends of two lengths of optical...

A variation in propagation delay caused by differences in group velocity among modes of an optical fiber. Also called...

A fiber laser is a type of laser in which the active gain medium is an optical fiber doped with rare-earth ions such as...

A process for the production of optical fibers. A glass bait is rotated in a traversing flame of a reaction burner....

Optical fiber that transmits a greater percentage of input light than does high-loss step-index fiber. Low-loss fiber...

A process that employs heat to remove polyimide plastic coatings from silica optical fibers and capillary tubing.

A system for fabricating optical fiber, consisting of a furnace that heats the materials, a polymer coating stage, a...

A characteristic of optical fiber used to calculate the fiber's ability to maintain polarization. The beat length describes...

The method for measuring the index profile of an optical fiber by preparing a thin sample that has its faces perpendicular...

An optical fiber in which the core is of uniform refractive index.

Sapphire optical fiber is a type of optical fiber made from single-crystal sapphire, which is a form of aluminum oxide...

An electro-optic modulator (EOM) is a device used to modulate the amplitude, phase, or polarization of light waves using an...

A fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) is a type of gyroscope that uses the interference of light waves to detect changes in...

A GaAlAs laser is a type of semiconductor laser diode that emits light in the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic...

1. In fiber optics, a protective material applied as an optical fiber cover that has no optical function. 2. In image...

Optical fiber with a large core, often a step-index fiber; "large'' is at times defined as greater than 85 µm.

Brillouin scattering is a phenomenon in physics where an incident electromagnetic wave (usually light) interacts with...

A technique developed by British Telecom in which the viscous drag of air is used to install optical fibers in narrow...

A type of glass optical fiber that provides low pulse dispersion over a broad portion of the light spectrum and as a result...

A device used in measuring the attenuation of multimode optical fibers. A short reference length of fiber when combined with...

A diffraction grating is an optical component consisting of a surface with a periodic structure of equally spaced, parallel...

Optical cements and adhesives are specialized materials used in the assembly and bonding of optical components in optical...

The end of an optical fiber farthest from the source of illumination.

A cable assembly containing both optical fibers and copper electrical conductors in the same jacket.

A phenomenon in which high optical power, encountering an imperfection in an optical fiber, destroys the fiber's core and...

A method that produces low-loss optical fibers. A glass tube rotates while reactants pass through the tube and heat is...

A dispersion-shifted fiber (DSF) refers to a type of optical fiber designed to minimize the effects of chromatic dispersion,...

Energy loss encountered at connectors in optical fiber transmission systems. The major contributors are mutual core...

The use of a plasma to induce the formation of oxides in the production of graded-index optical fibers.

In a single-mode optical fiber, the wavelength that causes material dispersion and waveguide dispersion to cancel each...

Nonlinear optical materials are substances that exhibit optical properties that are not linearly proportional to the...

A laser that distributes its output power among two, three or four optical fibers simultaneously.

An assembly of optical fibers that will not transmit coherent images or information because the relationship of the fibers...

An optical fiber that can be used to amplify an optical input. Erbium rare earth ions are added to the fiber core material...

A vortex phase plate is an optical device designed to impart a phase singularity, commonly referred to as a vortex or phase...

A fiber optic transceiver, often simply referred to as an "optical transceiver," is a device used in fiber optic...

The term "embedded laser" typically refers to a laser device that is integrated or embedded into a larger system or...

A vapor-phase oxidation process for fabricating graded-index optical fibers. It differs from outside vapor phase deposition...

A tool used to remove the outer cladding of an optical fiber without damaging the fiber core.

The physical limit of an optical fiber or cable to withstand an applied force or weight perpendicular to the axis of the...

The term gradient-index profile refers to a specific type of refractive index distribution within an optical material. In...

The technique for measuring the index profile of an optical fiber by scanning the entrance face with the vertex of a high...

A circular lamp or bundles of optical fibers placed around the perimeter of an objective lens to illuminate the object field...

A semispherical or conical lens created directly on the core of an optical fiber to focus light from a laser into the fiber...

A device used in measuring attenuation in optical fiber. The loss caused by the bends in a short reference length of fiber...

An optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) is a specialized instrument used in optical fiber communications to characterize...

Optical fiber is a thin, flexible, transparent strand or filament made of glass or plastic used for transmitting light...

A method of measuring microbending losses in optical fiber by sandwiching a length of fiber between two parallel plates,...

A means of testing the strength of optical fibers to ensure reliability, by applying stress to the fiber so that any flaws...

Modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) is a technique used in the fabrication of optical fibers. It is a specialized form...

Any arrangement of a bundle of optical fibers that alters the shape of the image. For example, by systematic regulation of...

A ray that is reflected into the core of an optical fiber from the outer surface of the cladding.

A type of interferometer in which two coils of optical fiber are arranged so that light from a single source travels...

A fiber optic sensor is a device that uses optical fibers to detect and measure physical, chemical, biological, or...

The radius of curvature that an optical fiber can bend without breaking.

A fiber optic spectrometer is a device used for measuring the spectral content of light. It utilizes optical fibers to...

An optical channel monitor (OCM) is a device used in optical communication systems to monitor and analyze the performance of...

Transparent matter that usually is drawn into a cylindrical, pyramidical or conical shape through which light is channeled...

In the context of optical materials, the term "impurity level" refers to the presence of foreign atoms or molecules within...

Optical fibers fused together to form a solid, vacuum-tight assembly in the form of a slab or rod. Discs or rectangular...

Variations in a signal passing through an optical fiber caused by the effect on the pulse of the fiber's material and mode...

An optical testing instrument is a device or system used to evaluate and measure the performance, quality, and...

A flaw deliberately introduced into an optical fiber to prepare it for cleaving.

Photonic crystals are artificial structures or materials designed to manipulate and control the flow of light in a manner...

In an optical fiber or waveguide communications system, an optoelectronic device or module that receives an optical signal,...

The application of a constant stress to an optical fiber.

A mechanism or device, especially a coating with a refractive index equal to or slightly greater than that of an optical...

An optical fiber with a hollow core filled with a liquid material that has a higher refractive index than the solid...

A method of terminating optical fibers by forming a lens directly on the end of the fiber, eliminating the need for precise...

A short length of optical fiber permanently fixed to a component and used to couple power between it and the transmission...

Self-phase modulation (SPM) is a nonlinear optical phenomenon that occurs when an intense laser beam passes through a...

The process of linking optical fiber end to end.

A device used to prepare optical fiber end faces; a scribe line made by the cleaver's blade propagates across the fiber,...

The fraction of available output from a radiant source that is coupled and transmitted by an optical fiber.

A wide-field multiobject spectroscopy system used in astronomy, in which a bundle of low-loss optical fibers positioned on...

An optical recording technique that uses light source(s), a beamsplitting cube, light detector(s) and an optical fiber...

Designation for the fundamental mode of an optical fiber.

An instrument used to measure backscatter as well as optical return loss and reflectance within an optical fiber system by...

An edge-emitting light-emitting diode is a type of LED structure where light emission occurs primarily along the edge of the...

An optical fiber's absorption of electromagnetic waves due to hydroxyl ions remaining after contact with water.

A V-shaped channel pressed or etched into a substrate, in which, for example, optical fibers may be placed to create an...

A coherent optical fiber bundle in which the configuration is flat rather than round, giving an output in a line.

A type of optical fiber loss resulting from the misalignment of fibers in a splice or connector.

A device for inducing mode coupling in an optical fiber. Also, a device composed of one or more optical fibers in which...

An infrared transmitting material used in the production of fluoride glasses for optical fibers.

A defect in the cleaved end face of an optical fiber in which the surface changes abruptly.

The distance between the center of the two concentric circles of an optical fiber that designate the diameter of the...

Transmission loss in optical fibers caused by packaging processes; it is considered a power-coupling effect from the guided...

A technique used to measure the mode-field diameter of an optical fiber by scanning one fiber past another at a distance of...

A device used to delay transmission of a signal for functions such as memory loops, sequential processing or built-in...

Optoelectronics is a branch of electronics that focuses on the study and application of devices and systems that use light...

A device that couples a light source to an optical fiber by projecting an image of the source and the fiber core onto a...

An optical fiber, usually a single-mode fiber, that has an outer cladding with nearly the same index of refraction as the...

In fiber optic communications, a light source whose beam can be modulated and sent along an optical fiber, and the...

A laser fitted with up to eight optical fibers that transmit the energy to different workstations in turn.

A fiber optic imaging bundle is a specialized optical device composed of multiple optical fibers bundled together. Each...

The loss of optical power in an optical fiber because radiation escapes through its bends. The radiation loss caused by...

Calculation of peak and average transmission power at a given point along an optical fiber or cable.

A cable backbone used to interconnect local area networks at various sites (corporate offices and factories, for example) in...

The low-refractive-index material that surrounds the core of an optical fiber to contain core light while protecting against...

A system of mirrors that can be used to direct light from a single laser source into any one of a number of separate optical...

Optical switching refers to the process of controlling the routing or transmission of optical signals within a network using...

A method of manufacturing polycrystalline infrared-transmitting optical fiber by heating a single halide crystal billet and...

A type of tubing used to protect optical fiber cables, consisting of a wire spiral of aluminum, galvanized steel or...

A plate consisting of fused optical fibers with both surfaces ground and polished, and having the entrance surface curved to...

The method used to measure the index profile of an optical fiber by placing it in an interferometer and illuminating the...

The minimum amount of strength characteristic of an optical fiber, as determined by proof stressing; expressed in thousands...

The angle at which a given mode propagates down an optical fiber.

An optical fiber in which ions of a rare-earth element, such as neodymium, erbium or holmium, have been incorporated into...

A MEMS fiber optic switch is a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device designed to selectively route optical signals...

The surface of an optical fiber that is used as a reference when joining optical fibers. Although the outermost cladding is...

A GRIN (gradient index) lens is a type of optical lens that utilizes a gradient in refractive index across its volume rather...

A type of fatigue found in optical fibers, caused by water or another corroding agent.