Glossary of Terms

ANGLE OF INCIDENCE the angle associated with the presentation of a ray of light to a surface with the ray of light and a line normal to the surface creating this angle.

ANGLE OF REFLECTION the angle associated with the production of a ray of light that is reflected by a surface and a line normal to the surface creating this angle. This angle is directly related to the angle of incidence

ATTENUATION a factor of signal strength of a optic signal induced into a fiber. The two factors that greatly contribute to this attenuation is absorption and scattering.

BANDWIDTH a fiber's capacity to transmit data. There are two limitaitons to bandwidth modal and chromatic dispersion. Modal dispersion is based on the difference of material construction. Chromatic dispersion is based on the principals of light speed at different frequencies

CLADDING the layer of the optical fiber that is designed to reflect the light being transmitted in the core of the fiber to achieve total internal reflection

DOPING the process of introducing impurities into a optic fiber to create the cladding layer of an optical fiber

MCVD : Modified Chemical Vapor Doping, a particular type of process used to create the cladding layer of an optical fiber

MONOMODE OPTICAL FIBER: also known as single mode optical fiber, this construct of optical fiber employs a core layer of about six times the wavelength of a fiber, this causes all the light to travel in only one mode.

MULTIMODE OPTICAL FIBER this construct of optical fiber uses a core layer 5 to20 times larger than single mode fiber optics. This technology is used where speed and bandwidth are not adversely affected by its inefficiency.

NORMAL ANGLE the angle which is perpendicular to a surface where light is reflected.

REFRACTION the portion of a ray of light that passes through one medium to another and its angle is bent in the second medium.

REFLECTION the portion of a ray of light that is not allowed to penetrate a surface, this ray of light leaves the target surface at a new angle

TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION the concept of light entering a surface and not being allowed to exit through the surface into another medium. This concept is a fundamental building block of fiber optics.