Monday, June 28, 2010

Optical-Cable Construction

he core is the highly refractive central region of an optical fiber through which light is transmitted. The standard telecommunications core diameter in use with SMF is between 8 m and 10 m, whereas the standard core diameter in use with MMF is between 50 m and 62.5 m. Figure 3-4 shows the core diameter for SMF and MMF cable. The diameter of the cladding surrounding each of these cores is 125 m. Core sizes of 85 m and 100 m were used in early applications, but are not typically used today. The core and cladding are manufactured together as a single solid component of glass with slightly different compositions and refractive indices. The third section of an optical fiber is the outer protective coating known as the coating. The coating is typically an ultraviolet (UV) light-cured acrylate applied during the manufacturing process to provide physical and environmental protection for the fiber. The buffer coating could also be constructed out of one or more layers of polymer, nonporous hard elastomers or high-performance PVC materials. The coating does not have any optical properties that might affect the propagation of light within the fiber-optic cable. During the installation process, this coating is stripped away from the cladding to allow proper termination to an optical transmission system. The coating size can vary, but the standard sizes are 250 m and 900 m. The 250-m coating takes less space in larger outdoor cables. The 900-m coating is larger and more suitable for smaller indoor cables.

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