Silica Optical Fiber Technology for Devices and Components: Design, Fabrication, and International Standards

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

1.1   BRIEF HISTORICAL REVIEW OF SILICA OPTICAL FIBERS

The invention of the low-loss silica glass optical fiber using chemical vapor deposition in 1970 [1] has opened new horizon in communication technology, and led to the possibility of ultrahigh capacity information flow. Worldwide competitive research and development efforts followed that invention and brought about astounding progress in photonics technology. Two seminal inventions made almost simultaneously in 1970, silica-based glass fiber [1] and continuous wave semiconductor laser operating at room temperature [2], marked the inception of the photonics era. Owing to excellent transmission properties of low loss and high bandwidth as predicted by Kao and Hockham [3], silica optical fiber is the status quo broadband telecommunications medium. Real-time audio, video, and data applications for advanced broadband systems prompted optical fiber manufacturers to develop high volume mass production technologies such as large perform fabrication [4] and high speed drawing [5] and consequently lower the cost of the fiber. As a result of these efforts, fiber technology has provided various types of optical fibers and fiber devices that enabled all-fiber platform in telecommunications, sensing, and metrology. All of these fiber optic innovations and contributions to today’s information technologies have led to recent recognition among scientific community such that Dr. Charles Kao won the Nobel prize in physics ...