Optical fiber, referred to as optical fiber for short, is a kind of optical transmission tool that realizes the principle of total reflection of light in fibers made of glass or plastic.
Thin optical fiber encapsulates a bundle of optical fibers in a plastic sheath so as not to break when bending. Generally, a transmitting device at one end of an optical fiber uses a light emitting diode or a laser to transmit light pulses to the optical fiber, and a receiving device at the other end of the optical fiber uses a photosensitive element to detect the pulses.
Cables containing optical fibers are called optical cables. Because the transmission loss of light in optical fiber is much lower than that of electricity in wire, and because the main raw material is silicon, which has large reserves, easy exploitation and low price, optical fiber is used as a long-distance information transmission tool.