HOW DO FIBRE OPTICS WORK?
A. As you probably know, fibre optics have revolutionised the telecommunications industry in the past couple of decades, contributing greatly to cheap telephone calls and internet access. Telecommunications optical fibre is manufactured from glass, whereas plastic (polymer) fibre is more commonly used in decorative applications. The light transmission properties of the polymer fibre are not as good as those of the glass, but the polymer is less brittle and so stands up better to handling. Whether made from glass or polymer, optical fibre takes advantage of the physical phenomenon known as “Total Internal Reflection”. Without going into any complicated physics, this term really sums up the principle of fibre optics the light introduced at one end of the fibre is not absorbed or permitted to escape from the fibre wall but “bounces” its way down to the far end. The key to this is the special coating of the fibre, and the fact that this coating has a different refractive index to that of t
