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121-629: An optical fiber , or optical fibre , is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications , where they permit transmission over longer distances and at higher bandwidths (data transfer rates) than electrical cables. Fibers are used instead of metal wires because signals travel along them with less loss and are immune to electromagnetic interference . Fibers are also used for illumination and imaging, and are often wrapped in bundles so they may be used to carry light into, or images out of confined spaces, as in

242-413: A core surrounded by a cladding layer, both of which are made of dielectric materials. To confine the optical signal in the core, the refractive index of the core must be greater than that of the cladding. The boundary between the core and cladding may either be abrupt, in step-index fiber , or gradual, in graded-index fiber . Light can be fed into optical fibers using lasers or LEDs . Fiber

363-405: A glass (or vitreous solid) is a non-crystalline solid formed by rapid melt quenching . However, the term "glass" is often defined in a broader sense, to describe any non-crystalline ( amorphous ) solid that exhibits a glass transition when heated towards the liquid state. Glass is an amorphous solid . Although the atomic-scale structure of glass shares characteristics of the structure of

484-436: A supercooled liquid , glass exhibits all the mechanical properties of a solid. As in other amorphous solids , the atomic structure of a glass lacks the long-range periodicity observed in crystalline solids . Due to chemical bonding constraints, glasses do possess a high degree of short-range order with respect to local atomic polyhedra . The notion that glass flows to an appreciable extent over extended periods well below

605-809: A turquoise colour in glass, in contrast to copper(I) oxide (Cu 2 O) which gives a dull red-brown colour. Soda–lime sheet glass is typically used as a transparent glazing material, typically as windows in external walls of buildings. Float or rolled sheet glass products are cut to size either by scoring and snapping the material, laser cutting , water jets , or diamond-bladed saw. The glass may be thermally or chemically tempered (strengthened) for safety and bent or curved during heating. Surface coatings may be added for specific functions such as scratch resistance, blocking specific wavelengths of light (e.g. infrared or ultraviolet ), dirt-repellence (e.g. self-cleaning glass ), or switchable electrochromic coatings. Structural glazing systems represent one of

726-411: A wavelength shifter collect scintillation light in physics experiments . Fiber-optic sights for handguns, rifles, and shotguns use pieces of optical fiber to improve the visibility of markings on the sight. An optical fiber is a cylindrical dielectric waveguide ( nonconducting waveguide) that transmits light along its axis through the process of total internal reflection. The fiber consists of

847-425: A 16,000-kilometer distance, means that there is a minimum delay of 80 milliseconds (about 1 12 {\displaystyle {\tfrac {1}{12}}} of a second) between when one caller speaks and the other hears. When light traveling in an optically dense medium hits a boundary at a steep angle of incidence (larger than the critical angle for the boundary), the light is completely reflected. This

968-422: A cladding made of pure silica, with an index of 1.444 at 1500 nm, and a core of doped silica with an index around 1.4475. The larger the index of refraction, the slower light travels in that medium. From this information, a simple rule of thumb is that a signal using optical fiber for communication will travel at around 200,000 kilometers per second. Thus a phone call carried by fiber between Sydney and New York,

1089-485: A clear "ring" sound when struck. However, lead glass cannot withstand high temperatures well. Lead oxide also facilitates the solubility of other metal oxides and is used in coloured glass. The viscosity decrease of lead glass melt is very significant (roughly 100 times in comparison with soda glass); this allows easier removal of bubbles and working at lower temperatures, hence its frequent use as an additive in vitreous enamels and glass solders . The high ionic radius of

1210-451: A digital audio optical connection. This allows the streaming of audio over light, using the S/PDIF protocol over an optical TOSLINK connection. Fibers have many uses in remote sensing . In some applications, the fiber itself is the sensor (the fibers channel optical light to a processing device that analyzes changes in the light's characteristics). In other cases, fiber is used to connect

1331-443: A green tint in thick sections. Manganese dioxide (MnO 2 ), which gives glass a purple colour, may be added to remove the green tint given by FeO. FeO and chromium(III) oxide (Cr 2 O 3 ) additives are used in the production of green bottles. Iron (III) oxide , on the other-hand, produces yellow or yellow-brown glass. Low concentrations (0.025 to 0.1%) of cobalt oxide (CoO) produce rich, deep blue cobalt glass . Chromium

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1452-408: A human timescale. Silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) is a common fundamental constituent of glass. Fused quartz is a glass made from chemically pure silica. It has very low thermal expansion and excellent resistance to thermal shock , being able to survive immersion in water while red hot, resists high temperatures (1000–1500 °C) and chemical weathering, and is very hard. It is also transparent to

1573-519: A lasting impact on structures . It is based on the principle of measuring analog attenuation. In spectroscopy , optical fiber bundles transmit light from a spectrometer to a substance that cannot be placed inside the spectrometer itself, in order to analyze its composition. A spectrometer analyzes substances by bouncing light off and through them. By using fibers, a spectrometer can be used to study objects remotely. An optical fiber doped with certain rare-earth elements such as erbium can be used as

1694-405: A lighter alternative to traditional glass. Molecular liquids, electrolytes , molten salts , and aqueous solutions are mixtures of different molecules or ions that do not form a covalent network but interact only through weak van der Waals forces or transient hydrogen bonds . In a mixture of three or more ionic species of dissimilar size and shape, crystallization can be so difficult that

1815-561: A long period at a temperature just insufficient to cause fusion. In this way, the crystalline, devitrified material, known as Réaumur's glass porcelain is produced. Although generally transparent to visible light, glasses may be opaque to other wavelengths of light . While silicate glasses are generally opaque to infrared wavelengths with a transmission cut-off at 4 μm, heavy-metal fluoride and chalcogenide glasses are transparent to infrared wavelengths of 7 to 18 μm. The addition of metallic oxides results in different coloured glasses as

1936-482: A mass of hot semi-molten glass, inflating it into a bubble using a hollow blowpipe, and forming it into the required shape by blowing, swinging, rolling, or moulding. While hot, the glass can be worked using hand tools, cut with shears, and additional parts such as handles or feet attached by welding. Flat glass for windows and similar applications is formed by the float glass process, developed between 1953 and 1957 by Sir Alastair Pilkington and Kenneth Bickerstaff of

2057-423: A network in an office building (see fiber to the office ), fiber-optic cabling can save space in cable ducts. This is because a single fiber can carry much more data than electrical cables such as standard category 5 cable , which typically runs at 100 Mbit/s or 1 Gbit/s speeds. Fibers are often also used for short-distance connections between devices. For example, most high-definition televisions offer

2178-453: A non-crystalline intergranular phase of grain boundaries . Glass-ceramics exhibit advantageous thermal, chemical, biological, and dielectric properties as compared to metals or organic polymers. The most commercially important property of glass-ceramics is their imperviousness to thermal shock. Thus, glass-ceramics have become extremely useful for countertop cooking and industrial processes. The negative thermal expansion coefficient (CTE) of

2299-401: A plastic resin with glass fibres . It is made by melting glass and stretching the glass into fibres. These fibres are woven together into a cloth and left to set in a plastic resin. Fibreglass has the properties of being lightweight and corrosion resistant and is a good insulator enabling its use as building insulation material and for electronic housing for consumer products. Fibreglass

2420-462: A refractive index of 1.4 to 2.4, and an Abbe number (which characterises dispersion) of 15 to 100. The refractive index may be modified by high-density (refractive index increases) or low-density (refractive index decreases) additives. Glass transparency results from the absence of grain boundaries which diffusely scatter light in polycrystalline materials. Semi-opacity due to crystallization may be induced in many glasses by maintaining them for

2541-474: A sensor to a measurement system. Optical fibers can be used as sensors to measure strain , temperature , pressure , and other quantities by modifying a fiber so that the property being measured modulates the intensity , phase , polarization , wavelength , or transit time of light in the fiber. Sensors that vary the intensity of light are the simplest since only a simple source and detector are required. A particularly useful feature of such fiber optic sensors

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2662-412: A spinning metal disk. Several alloys have been produced in layers with thicknesses exceeding 1 millimetre. These are known as bulk metallic glasses (BMG). Liquidmetal Technologies sells several zirconium -based BMGs. Batches of amorphous steel have also been produced that demonstrate mechanical properties far exceeding those found in conventional steel alloys. Experimental evidence indicates that

2783-435: A structural analogue of silica, fluoride , aluminate , phosphate , borate , and chalcogenide glasses) have physicochemical properties useful for their application in fibre-optic waveguides in communication networks and other specialised technological applications. Silica-free glasses may often have poor glass-forming tendencies. Novel techniques, including containerless processing by aerodynamic levitation (cooling

2904-413: A structurally metastable state with respect to its crystalline form, although in certain circumstances, for example in atactic polymers, there is no crystalline analogue of the amorphous phase. Glass is sometimes considered to be a liquid due to its lack of a first-order phase transition where certain thermodynamic variables such as volume , entropy and enthalpy are discontinuous through

3025-649: A target without a clear line-of-sight path. Many microscopes use fiber-optic light sources to provide intense illumination of samples being studied. Optical fiber is also used in imaging optics. A coherent bundle of fibers is used, sometimes along with lenses, for a long, thin imaging device called an endoscope , which is used to view objects through a small hole. Medical endoscopes are used for minimally invasive exploratory or surgical procedures. Industrial endoscopes (see fiberscope or borescope ) are used for inspecting anything hard to reach, such as jet engine interiors. In some buildings, optical fibers route sunlight from

3146-520: A transparent cladding. Later that same year, Harold Hopkins and Narinder Singh Kapany at Imperial College in London succeeded in making image-transmitting bundles with over 10,000 fibers, and subsequently achieved image transmission through a 75 cm long bundle which combined several thousand fibers. The first practical fiber optic semi-flexible gastroscope was patented by Basil Hirschowitz , C. Wilbur Peters, and Lawrence E. Curtiss, researchers at

3267-521: A wider spectral range than ordinary glass, extending from the visible further into both the UV and IR ranges, and is sometimes used where transparency to these wavelengths is necessary. Fused quartz is used for high-temperature applications such as furnace tubes, lighting tubes, melting crucibles, etc. However, its high melting temperature (1723 °C) and viscosity make it difficult to work with. Therefore, normally, other substances (fluxes) are added to lower

3388-418: Is 3.25 × 10 /°C as compared to about 9 × 10 /°C for a typical soda–lime glass ). They are, therefore, less subject to stress caused by thermal expansion and thus less vulnerable to cracking from thermal shock . They are commonly used for e.g. labware , household cookware , and sealed beam car head lamps . The addition of lead(II) oxide into silicate glass lowers the melting point and viscosity of

3509-466: Is a mechanical splice , where the ends of the fibers are held in contact by mechanical force. Temporary or semi-permanent connections are made by means of specialized optical fiber connectors . The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of optical fibers is known as fiber optics . The term was coined by Indian-American physicist Narinder Singh Kapany . Daniel Colladon and Jacques Babinet first demonstrated

3630-552: Is a common volcanic glass with high silica (SiO 2 ) content formed when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly. Impactite is a form of glass formed by the impact of a meteorite , where Moldavite (found in central and eastern Europe), and Libyan desert glass (found in areas in the eastern Sahara , the deserts of eastern Libya and western Egypt ) are notable examples. Vitrification of quartz can also occur when lightning strikes sand , forming hollow, branching rootlike structures called fulgurites . Trinitite

3751-714: Is a glassy residue formed from the desert floor sand at the Trinity nuclear bomb test site. Edeowie glass , found in South Australia , is proposed to originate from Pleistocene grassland fires, lightning strikes, or hypervelocity impact by one or several asteroids or comets . Naturally occurring obsidian glass was used by Stone Age societies as it fractures along very sharp edges, making it ideal for cutting tools and weapons. Glassmaking dates back at least 6000 years, long before humans had discovered how to smelt iron. Archaeological evidence suggests that

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3872-418: Is a very powerful colouring agent, yielding dark green. Sulphur combined with carbon and iron salts produces amber glass ranging from yellowish to almost black. A glass melt can also acquire an amber colour from a reducing combustion atmosphere. Cadmium sulfide produces imperial red , and combined with selenium can produce shades of yellow, orange, and red. Addition of copper(II) oxide (CuO) produces

3993-453: Is a way of measuring the speed of light in a material. Light travels fastest in a vacuum , such as in outer space. The speed of light in vacuum is about 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles) per second. The refractive index of a medium is calculated by dividing the speed of light in vacuum by the speed of light in that medium. The refractive index of vacuum is therefore 1, by definition. A typical single-mode fiber used for telecommunications has

4114-449: Is achieved by homogenizing the raw materials mixture ( glass batch ), stirring the melt, and crushing and re-melting the first melt. The obtained glass is usually annealed to prevent breakage during processing. Colour in glass may be obtained by addition of homogenously distributed electrically charged ions (or colour centres ). While ordinary soda–lime glass appears colourless in thin section, iron(II) oxide (FeO) impurities produce

4235-543: Is an amorphous ( non-crystalline ) solid. Because it is often transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window panes, tableware , and optics . Some common objects made of glass are named after the material, e.g. "glass" , " glasses ", " magnifying glass ". Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ) of the molten form. Some glasses such as volcanic glass are naturally occurring, and obsidian has been used to make arrowheads and knives since

4356-411: Is bent towards the perpendicular ... When the ray passes from water to air it is bent from the perpendicular... If the angle which the ray in water encloses with the perpendicular to the surface be greater than 48 degrees, the ray will not quit the water at all: it will be totally reflected at the surface... The angle which marks the limit where total reflection begins is called the limiting angle of

4477-412: Is called multi-mode fiber , from the electromagnetic analysis (see below). In a step-index multi-mode fiber, rays of light are guided along the fiber core by total internal reflection. Rays that meet the core-cladding boundary at an angle (measured relative to a line normal to the boundary) greater than the critical angle for this boundary, are completely reflected. The critical angle is determined by

4598-417: Is called total internal reflection . This effect is used in optical fibers to confine light in the core. Most modern optical fiber is weakly guiding , meaning that the difference in refractive index between the core and the cladding is very small (typically less than 1%). Light travels through the fiber core, bouncing back and forth off the boundary between the core and cladding. Because the light must strike

4719-507: Is designed for use in the near infrared . Multi-mode fiber, by comparison, is manufactured with core diameters as small as 50 micrometers and as large as hundreds of micrometers. Some special-purpose optical fiber is constructed with a non-cylindrical core or cladding layer, usually with an elliptical or rectangular cross-section. These include polarization-maintaining fiber used in fiber optic sensors and fiber designed to suppress whispering gallery mode propagation. Photonic-crystal fiber

4840-676: Is extensively used for fibreglass , used for making glass-reinforced plastics (boats, fishing rods, etc.), top-of-stove cookware, and halogen bulb glass. The addition of barium also increases the refractive index. Thorium oxide gives glass a high refractive index and low dispersion and was formerly used in producing high-quality lenses, but due to its radioactivity has been replaced by lanthanum oxide in modern eyeglasses. Iron can be incorporated into glass to absorb infrared radiation, for example in heat-absorbing filters for movie projectors, while cerium(IV) oxide can be used for glass that absorbs ultraviolet wavelengths. Fluorine lowers

4961-562: Is far less than in electrical copper cables, leading to long-haul fiber connections with repeater distances of 70–150 kilometers (43–93 mi). Two teams, led by David N. Payne of the University of Southampton and Emmanuel Desurvire at Bell Labs , developed the erbium-doped fiber amplifier , which reduced the cost of long-distance fiber systems by reducing or eliminating optical-electrical-optical repeaters, in 1986 and 1987 respectively. The emerging field of photonic crystals led to

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5082-562: Is immune to electrical interference as there is no cross-talk between signals in different cables and no pickup of environmental noise. Information traveling inside the optical fiber is even immune to electromagnetic pulses generated by nuclear devices. Fiber cables do not conduct electricity, which makes fiber useful for protecting communications equipment in high voltage environments such as power generation facilities or applications prone to lightning strikes. The electrical isolation also prevents problems with ground loops . Because there

5203-417: Is important in fiber optic communication. This is more complex than joining electrical wire or cable and involves careful cleaving of the fibers, precise alignment of the fiber cores, and the coupling of these aligned cores. For applications that demand a permanent connection a fusion splice is common. In this technique, an electric arc is used to melt the ends of the fibers together. Another common technique

5324-455: Is in widespread use in optical systems due to its ability to refract, reflect, and transmit light following geometrical optics . The most common and oldest applications of glass in optics are as lenses , windows , mirrors , and prisms . The key optical properties refractive index , dispersion , and transmission , of glass are strongly dependent on chemical composition and, to a lesser degree, its thermal history. Optical glass typically has

5445-489: Is incorrect, as once solidified, glass stops flowing. The sags and ripples observed in old glass were already there the day it was made; manufacturing processes used in the past produced sheets with imperfect surfaces and non-uniform thickness (the near-perfect float glass used today only became widespread in the 1960s). A 2017 study computed the rate of flow of the medieval glass used in Westminster Abbey from

5566-606: Is kept in the core by the phenomenon of total internal reflection which causes the fiber to act as a waveguide . Fibers that support many propagation paths or transverse modes are called multi-mode fibers , while those that support a single mode are called single-mode fibers (SMF). Multi-mode fibers generally have a wider core diameter and are used for short-distance communication links and for applications where high power must be transmitted. Single-mode fibers are used for most communication links longer than 1,050 meters (3,440 ft). Being able to join optical fibers with low loss

5687-405: Is made with a regular pattern of index variation (often in the form of cylindrical holes that run along the length of the fiber). Such fiber uses diffraction effects instead of or in addition to total internal reflection, to confine light to the fiber's core. The properties of the fiber can be tailored to a wide variety of applications. Attenuation in fiber optics, also known as transmission loss,

5808-410: Is monitored and analyzed for disturbances. This return signal is digitally processed to detect disturbances and trip an alarm if an intrusion has occurred. Optical fibers are widely used as components of optical chemical sensors and optical biosensors . Optical fiber can be used to transmit power using a photovoltaic cell to convert the light into electricity. While this method of power transmission

5929-439: Is no electricity in optical cables that could potentially generate sparks, they can be used in environments where explosive fumes are present. Wiretapping (in this case, fiber tapping ) is more difficult compared to electrical connections. Fiber cables are not targeted for metal theft . In contrast, copper cable systems use large amounts of copper and have been targeted since the 2000s commodities boom . The refractive index

6050-477: Is not as efficient as conventional ones, it is especially useful in situations where it is desirable not to have a metallic conductor as in the case of use near MRI machines, which produce strong magnetic fields. Other examples are for powering electronics in high-powered antenna elements and measurement devices used in high-voltage transmission equipment. Optical fibers are used as light guides in medical and other applications where bright light needs to be shone on

6171-901: Is produced by forcing molten glass through a fine mesh by centripetal force and breaking the extruded glass fibres into short lengths using a stream of high-velocity air. The fibres are bonded with an adhesive spray and the resulting wool mat is cut and packed in rolls or panels. Besides common silica-based glasses many other inorganic and organic materials may also form glasses, including metals , aluminates , phosphates , borates , chalcogenides , fluorides , germanates (glasses based on GeO 2 ), tellurites (glasses based on TeO 2 ), antimonates (glasses based on Sb 2 O 3 ), arsenates (glasses based on As 2 O 3 ), titanates (glasses based on TiO 2 ), tantalates (glasses based on Ta 2 O 5 ), nitrates , carbonates , plastics , acrylic , and many other substances. Some of these glasses (e.g. Germanium dioxide (GeO 2 , Germania), in many respects

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6292-461: Is stronger than most metals, with a theoretical tensile strength for pure, flawless glass estimated at 14 to 35 gigapascals (2,000,000 to 5,100,000 psi) due to its ability to undergo reversible compression without fracture. However, the presence of scratches, bubbles, and other microscopic flaws lead to a typical range of 14 to 175 megapascals (2,000 to 25,400 psi) in most commercial glasses. Several processes such as toughening can increase

6413-408: Is sufficiently rapid (relative to the characteristic crystallization time) then crystallization is prevented and instead, the disordered atomic configuration of the supercooled liquid is frozen into the solid state at T g . The tendency for a material to form a glass while quenched is called glass-forming ability. This ability can be predicted by the rigidity theory . Generally, a glass exists in

6534-417: Is that they can, if required, provide distributed sensing over distances of up to one meter. Distributed acoustic sensing is one example of this. In contrast, highly localized measurements can be provided by integrating miniaturized sensing elements with the tip of the fiber. These can be implemented by various micro- and nanofabrication technologies, such that they do not exceed the microscopic boundary of

6655-422: Is the numerical aperture (NA) of the fiber. Fiber with a larger NA requires less precision to splice and work with than fiber with a smaller NA. The size of this acceptance cone is a function of the refractive index difference between the fiber's core and cladding. Single-mode fiber has a small NA. Fiber with large core diameter (greater than 10 micrometers) may be analyzed by geometrical optics . Such fiber

6776-474: Is the measurement of temperature inside jet engines by using a fiber to transmit radiation into a pyrometer outside the engine. Extrinsic sensors can be used in the same way to measure the internal temperature of electrical transformers , where the extreme electromagnetic fields present make other measurement techniques impossible. Extrinsic sensors measure vibration, rotation, displacement, velocity, acceleration, torque, and torsion. A solid-state version of

6897-427: Is the reduction in the intensity of the light signal as it travels through the transmission medium. Attenuation coefficients in fiber optics are usually expressed in units of dB/km. The medium is usually a fiber of silica glass that confines the incident light beam within. Attenuation is an important factor limiting the transmission of a digital signal across large distances. Thus, much research has gone into both limiting

7018-436: Is transparent, easily formed, and most suitable for window glass and tableware. However, it has a high thermal expansion and poor resistance to heat. Soda–lime glass is typically used for windows , bottles , light bulbs , and jars . Borosilicate glasses (e.g. Pyrex , Duran ) typically contain 5–13% boron trioxide (B 2 O 3 ). Borosilicate glasses have fairly low coefficients of thermal expansion (7740 Pyrex CTE

7139-481: Is typical in deployed systems. Through the use of wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), each fiber can carry many independent channels, each using a different wavelength of light. The net data rate (data rate without overhead bytes) per fiber is the per-channel data rate reduced by the forward error correction (FEC) overhead, multiplied by the number of channels (usually up to 80 in commercial dense WDM systems as of 2008). For short-distance applications, such as

7260-402: Is used as a medium for telecommunication and computer networking because it is flexible and can be bundled as cables. It is especially advantageous for long-distance communications, because infrared light propagates through the fiber with much lower attenuation compared to electricity in electrical cables. This allows long distances to be spanned with few repeaters . 10 or 40 Gbit/s

7381-524: The Late Bronze Age , there was a rapid growth in glassmaking technology in Egypt and Western Asia . Archaeological finds from this period include coloured glass ingots , vessels, and beads. Much early glass production relied on grinding techniques borrowed from stoneworking , such as grinding and carving glass in a cold state. The term glass has its origins in the late Roman Empire , in

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7502-535: The Renaissance period in Europe, the use of large stained glass windows became much less prevalent, although stained glass had a major revival with Gothic Revival architecture in the 19th century. During the 13th century, the island of Murano , Venice , became a centre for glass making, building on medieval techniques to produce colourful ornamental pieces in large quantities. Murano glass makers developed

7623-537: The Roman glass making centre at Trier (located in current-day Germany) where the late-Latin term glesum originated, likely from a Germanic word for a transparent , lustrous substance. Glass objects have been recovered across the Roman Empire in domestic, funerary , and industrial contexts, as well as trade items in marketplaces in distant provinces. Examples of Roman glass have been found outside of

7744-1270: The Stone Age . Archaeological evidence suggests glassmaking dates back to at least 3600 BC in Mesopotamia , Egypt , or Syria . The earliest known glass objects were beads , perhaps created accidentally during metalworking or the production of faience , which is a form of pottery using lead glazes. Due to its ease of formability into any shape, glass has been traditionally used for vessels, such as bowls , vases , bottles , jars and drinking glasses. Soda–lime glass , containing around 70% silica , accounts for around 90% of modern manufactured glass. Glass can be coloured by adding metal salts or painted and printed with vitreous enamels , leading to its use in stained glass windows and other glass art objects. The refractive , reflective and transmission properties of glass make glass suitable for manufacturing optical lenses , prisms , and optoelectronics materials. Extruded glass fibres have applications as optical fibres in communications networks, thermal insulating material when matted as glass wool to trap air, or in glass-fibre reinforced plastic ( fibreglass ). The standard definition of

7865-470: The University of Michigan , in 1956. In the process of developing the gastroscope, Curtiss produced the first glass-clad fibers; previous optical fibers had relied on air or impractical oils and waxes as the low-index cladding material. Kapany coined the term fiber optics after writing a 1960 article in Scientific American that introduced the topic to a wide audience. He subsequently wrote

7986-465: The dielectric constant of glass. Fluorine is highly electronegative and lowers the polarizability of the material. Fluoride silicate glasses are used in the manufacture of integrated circuits as an insulator. Glass-ceramic materials contain both non-crystalline glass and crystalline ceramic phases. They are formed by controlled nucleation and partial crystallisation of a base glass by heat treatment. Crystalline grains are often embedded within

8107-405: The gain medium of a fiber laser or optical amplifier . Rare-earth-doped optical fibers can be used to provide signal amplification by splicing a short section of doped fiber into a regular (undoped) optical fiber line. The doped fiber is optically pumped with a second laser wavelength that is coupled into the line in addition to the signal wave. Both wavelengths of light are transmitted through

8228-436: The glass batch preparation and mixing, the raw materials are transported to the furnace. Soda–lime glass for mass production is melted in glass-melting furnaces . Smaller-scale furnaces for speciality glasses include electric melters, pot furnaces, and day tanks. After melting, homogenization and refining (removal of bubbles), the glass is formed . This may be achieved manually by glassblowing , which involves gathering

8349-510: The 10th century onwards, glass was employed in stained glass windows of churches and cathedrals , with famous examples at Chartres Cathedral and the Basilica of Saint-Denis . By the 14th century, architects were designing buildings with walls of stained glass such as Sainte-Chapelle , Paris, (1203–1248) and the East end of Gloucester Cathedral . With the change in architectural style during

8470-461: The 1930s, which later became known as Depression glass . In the 1950s, Pilkington Bros. , England , developed the float glass process, producing high-quality distortion-free flat sheets of glass by floating on molten tin . Modern multi-story buildings are frequently constructed with curtain walls made almost entirely of glass. Laminated glass has been widely applied to vehicles for windscreens. Optical glass for spectacles has been used since

8591-687: The Middle Ages. The production of lenses has become increasingly proficient, aiding astronomers as well as having other applications in medicine and science. Glass is also employed as the aperture cover in many solar energy collectors. In the 21st century, glass manufacturers have developed different brands of chemically strengthened glass for widespread application in touchscreens for smartphones , tablet computers , and many other types of information appliances . These include Gorilla Glass , developed and manufactured by Corning , AGC Inc. 's Dragontrail and Schott AG 's Xensation. Glass

8712-543: The Pb ion renders it highly immobile and hinders the movement of other ions; lead glasses therefore have high electrical resistance, about two orders of magnitude higher than soda–lime glass (10 vs 10  Ω⋅cm, DC at 250 °C). Aluminosilicate glass typically contains 5–10% alumina (Al 2 O 3 ). Aluminosilicate glass tends to be more difficult to melt and shape compared to borosilicate compositions but has excellent thermal resistance and durability. Aluminosilicate glass

8833-533: The UK's Pilkington Brothers, who created a continuous ribbon of glass using a molten tin bath on which the molten glass flows unhindered under the influence of gravity. The top surface of the glass is subjected to nitrogen under pressure to obtain a polished finish. Container glass for common bottles and jars is formed by blowing and pressing methods. This glass is often slightly modified chemically (with more alumina and calcium oxide) for greater water resistance. Once

8954-719: The action of water, making it an ideal material for the manufacture of containers for foodstuffs and most chemicals. Nevertheless, although usually highly resistant to chemical attack, glass will corrode or dissolve under some conditions. The materials that make up a particular glass composition affect how quickly the glass corrodes. Glasses containing a high proportion of alkali or alkaline earth elements are more susceptible to corrosion than other glass compositions. The density of glass varies with chemical composition with values ranging from 2.2 grams per cubic centimetre (2,200 kg/m ) for fused silica to 7.2 grams per cubic centimetre (7,200 kg/m ) for dense flint glass. Glass

9075-400: The attenuation and maximizing the amplification of the optical signal. The four orders of magnitude reduction in the attenuation of silica optical fibers over four decades was the result of constant improvement of manufacturing processes, raw material purity, preform, and fiber designs, which allowed for these fibers to approach the theoretical lower limit of attenuation. Glass Glass

9196-563: The attenuation in fibers available at the time was caused by impurities that could be removed, rather than by fundamental physical effects such as scattering. They correctly and systematically theorized the light-loss properties for optical fiber and pointed out the right material to use for such fibers— silica glass with high purity. This discovery earned Kao the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009. The crucial attenuation limit of 20 dB/km

9317-416: The boundary with an angle greater than the critical angle, only light that enters the fiber within a certain range of angles can travel down the fiber without leaking out. This range of angles is called the acceptance cone of the fiber. There is a maximum angle from the fiber axis at which light may enter the fiber so that it will propagate, or travel, in the core of the fiber. The sine of this maximum angle

9438-455: The cameras had to be supervised by someone with an appropriate security clearance. Charles K. Kao and George A. Hockham of the British company Standard Telephones and Cables (STC) were the first to promote the idea that the attenuation in optical fibers could be reduced below 20 decibels per kilometer (dB/km), making fibers a practical communication medium, in 1965. They proposed that

9559-412: The case of a fiberscope . Specially designed fibers are also used for a variety of other applications, such as fiber optic sensors and fiber lasers . Glass optical fibers are typically made by drawing , while plastic fibers can be made either by drawing or by extrusion . Optical fibers typically include a core surrounded by a transparent cladding material with a lower index of refraction . Light

9680-407: The core-cladding boundary. The resulting curved paths reduce multi-path dispersion because high-angle rays pass more through the lower-index periphery of the core, rather than the high-index center. The index profile is chosen to minimize the difference in axial propagation speeds of the various rays in the fiber. This ideal index profile is very close to a parabolic relationship between the index and

9801-411: The cost factor has a low priority. In the laboratory mostly pure chemicals are used. Care must be taken that the raw materials have not reacted with moisture or other chemicals in the environment (such as alkali or alkaline earth metal oxides and hydroxides, or boron oxide ), or that the impurities are quantified (loss on ignition). Evaporation losses during glass melting should be considered during

9922-427: The crystalline ceramic phase can be balanced with the positive CTE of the glassy phase. At a certain point (~70% crystalline) the glass-ceramic has a net CTE near zero. This type of glass-ceramic exhibits excellent mechanical properties and can sustain repeated and quick temperature changes up to 1000 °C. Fibreglass (also called glass fibre reinforced plastic, GRP) is a composite material made by reinforcing

10043-683: The desired form is obtained, glass is usually annealed for the removal of stresses and to increase the glass's hardness and durability. Surface treatments, coatings or lamination may follow to improve the chemical durability ( glass container coatings , glass container internal treatment ), strength ( toughened glass , bulletproof glass , windshields ), or optical properties ( insulated glazing , anti-reflective coating ). New chemical glass compositions or new treatment techniques can be initially investigated in small-scale laboratory experiments. The raw materials for laboratory-scale glass melts are often different from those used in mass production because

10164-439: The development in 1991 of photonic-crystal fiber , which guides light by diffraction from a periodic structure, rather than by total internal reflection. The first photonic crystal fibers became commercially available in 2000. Photonic crystal fibers can carry higher power than conventional fibers and their wavelength-dependent properties can be manipulated to improve performance. These fibers can have hollow cores. Optical fiber

10285-467: The difference in the index of refraction between the core and cladding materials. Rays that meet the boundary at a low angle are refracted from the core into the cladding where they terminate. The critical angle determines the acceptance angle of the fiber, often reported as a numerical aperture . A high numerical aperture allows light to propagate down the fiber in rays both close to the axis and at various angles, allowing efficient coupling of light into

10406-443: The distance from the axis. Fiber with a core diameter less than about ten times the wavelength of the propagating light cannot be modeled using geometric optics. Instead, it must be analyzed as an electromagnetic waveguide structure, according to Maxwell's equations as reduced to the electromagnetic wave equation . As an optical waveguide, the fiber supports one or more confined transverse modes by which light can propagate along

10527-620: The doped fiber, which transfers energy from the second pump wavelength to the signal wave. The process that causes the amplification is stimulated emission . Optical fiber is also widely exploited as a nonlinear medium. The glass medium supports a host of nonlinear optical interactions, and the long interaction lengths possible in fiber facilitate a variety of phenomena, which are harnessed for applications and fundamental investigation. Conversely, fiber nonlinearity can have deleterious effects on optical signals, and measures are often required to minimize such unwanted effects. Optical fibers doped with

10648-466: The exceptionally clear colourless glass cristallo , so called for its resemblance to natural crystal, which was extensively used for windows, mirrors, ships' lanterns, and lenses. In the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, enamelling and gilding on glass vessels were perfected in Egypt and Syria. Towards the end of the 17th century, Bohemia became an important region for glass production, remaining so until

10769-424: The fiber tip, allowing for such applications as insertion into blood vessels via hypodermic needle. Extrinsic fiber optic sensors use an optical fiber cable , normally a multi-mode one, to transmit modulated light from either a non-fiber optical sensor—or an electronic sensor connected to an optical transmitter. A major benefit of extrinsic sensors is their ability to reach otherwise inaccessible places. An example

10890-403: The fiber. Fiber supporting only one mode is called single-mode . The waveguide analysis shows that the light energy in the fiber is not completely confined in the core. Instead, especially in single-mode fibers, a significant fraction of the energy in the bound mode travels in the cladding as an evanescent wave . The most common type of single-mode fiber has a core diameter of 8–10 micrometers and

11011-438: The fiber. However, this high numerical aperture increases the amount of dispersion as rays at different angles have different path lengths and therefore take different amounts of time to traverse the fiber. In graded-index fiber, the index of refraction in the core decreases continuously between the axis and the cladding. This causes light rays to bend smoothly as they approach the cladding, rather than reflecting abruptly from

11132-489: The first book about the new field. The first working fiber-optic data transmission system was demonstrated by German physicist Manfred Börner at Telefunken Research Labs in Ulm in 1965, followed by the first patent application for this technology in 1966. In 1968, NASA used fiber optics in the television cameras that were sent to the moon. At the time, the use in the cameras was classified confidential , and employees handling

11253-459: The first true synthetic glass was made in Lebanon and the coastal north Syria , Mesopotamia or ancient Egypt . The earliest known glass objects, of the mid-third millennium BC, were beads , perhaps initially created as accidental by-products of metalworking ( slags ) or during the production of faience , a pre-glass vitreous material made by a process similar to glazing . Early glass

11374-754: The former Roman Empire in China , the Baltics , the Middle East , and India . The Romans perfected cameo glass , produced by etching and carving through fused layers of different colours to produce a design in relief on the glass object. In post-classical West Africa, Benin was a manufacturer of glass and glass beads. Glass was used extensively in Europe during the Middle Ages . Anglo-Saxon glass has been found across England during archaeological excavations of both settlement and cemetery sites. From

11495-555: The glass and melt phases. Important polymer glasses include amorphous and glassy pharmaceutical compounds. These are useful because the solubility of the compound is greatly increased when it is amorphous compared to the same crystalline composition. Many emerging pharmaceuticals are practically insoluble in their crystalline forms. Many polymer thermoplastics familiar to everyday use are glasses. For many applications, like glass bottles or eyewear , polymer glasses ( acrylic glass , polycarbonate or polyethylene terephthalate ) are

11616-493: The glass transition range. The glass transition may be described as analogous to a second-order phase transition where the intensive thermodynamic variables such as the thermal expansivity and heat capacity are discontinuous. However, the equilibrium theory of phase transformations does not hold for glass, and hence the glass transition cannot be classed as one of the classical equilibrium phase transformations in solids. Glass can form naturally from volcanic magma. Obsidian

11737-406: The glass transition temperature is not supported by empirical research or theoretical analysis (see viscosity in solids ). Though atomic motion at glass surfaces can be observed, and viscosity on the order of 10 –10 Pa s can be measured in glass, such a high value reinforces the fact that glass would not change shape appreciably over even large periods of time. For melt quenching, if the cooling

11858-506: The guiding of light by refraction, the principle that makes fiber optics possible, in Paris in the early 1840s. John Tyndall included a demonstration of it in his public lectures in London , 12 years later. Tyndall also wrote about the property of total internal reflection in an introductory book about the nature of light in 1870: When the light passes from air into water, the refracted ray

11979-469: The gyroscope, using the interference of light, has been developed. The fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) has no moving parts and exploits the Sagnac effect to detect mechanical rotation. Common uses for fiber optic sensors include advanced intrusion detection security systems . The light is transmitted along a fiber optic sensor cable placed on a fence, pipeline, or communication cabling, and the returned signal

12100-446: The lab for over 30 years. He was also involved in radio and fiber optics research and suggested the invention of polarized sunglasses . His interest in the biological effects of ionized air was spurred in 1932 when he noticed that the moods of one of his colleagues at Rocky Point Laboratory swung in response to the ions being generated by their equipment. He noted that when the equipment generated negative ions, his colleague's mood

12221-458: The liquid can easily be supercooled into a glass. Examples include LiCl: R H 2 O (a solution of lithium chloride salt and water molecules) in the composition range 4< R <8. sugar glass , or Ca 0.4 K 0.6 (NO 3 ) 1.4 . Glass electrolytes in the form of Ba-doped Li-glass and Ba-doped Na-glass have been proposed as solutions to problems identified with organic liquid electrolytes used in modern lithium-ion battery cells. Following

12342-412: The medium. For water this angle is 48°27′, for flint glass it is 38°41′, while for a diamond it is 23°42′. In the late 19th century, a team of Viennese doctors guided light through bent glass rods to illuminate body cavities. Practical applications such as close internal illumination during dentistry followed, early in the twentieth century. Image transmission through tubes was demonstrated independently by

12463-481: The melt whilst it floats on a gas stream) or splat quenching (pressing the melt between two metal anvils or rollers), may be used to increase the cooling rate or to reduce crystal nucleation triggers. In the past, small batches of amorphous metals with high surface area configurations (ribbons, wires, films, etc.) have been produced through the implementation of extremely rapid rates of cooling. Amorphous metal wires have been produced by sputtering molten metal onto

12584-433: The melt. The high density of lead glass (silica + lead oxide (PbO) + potassium oxide (K 2 O) + soda (Na 2 O) + zinc oxide (ZnO) + alumina) results in a high electron density, and hence high refractive index, making the look of glassware more brilliant and causing noticeably more specular reflection and increased optical dispersion . Lead glass has a high elasticity, making the glassware more workable and giving rise to

12705-619: The melting temperature and simplify glass processing. Sodium carbonate (Na 2 CO 3 , "soda") is a common additive and acts to lower the glass-transition temperature. However, sodium silicate is water-soluble , so lime (CaO, calcium oxide , generally obtained from limestone ), along with magnesium oxide (MgO), and aluminium oxide (Al 2 O 3 ), are commonly added to improve chemical durability. Soda–lime glasses (Na 2 O) + lime (CaO) + magnesia (MgO) + alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) account for over 75% of manufactured glass, containing about 70 to 74% silica by weight. Soda–lime–silicate glass

12826-410: The metallic ions will absorb wavelengths of light corresponding to specific colours. In the manufacturing process, glasses can be poured, formed, extruded and moulded into forms ranging from flat sheets to highly intricate shapes. The finished product is brittle but can be laminated or tempered to enhance durability. Glass is typically inert, resistant to chemical attack, and can mostly withstand

12947-409: The most significant architectural innovations of modern times, where glass buildings now often dominate the skylines of many modern cities . These systems use stainless steel fittings countersunk into recesses in the corners of the glass panels allowing strengthened panes to appear unsupported creating a flush exterior. Structural glazing systems have their roots in iron and glass conservatories of

13068-559: The nineteenth century Clarence Hansell Hansell was born in Medaryville, Indiana on January 20, 1898. He graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1919. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Electrical Engineering in 1952. Hansell founded the RCA Radio Transmission Laboratory at Rocky Point, New York , Long Island in 1925, and headed

13189-414: The radio experimenter Clarence Hansell and the television pioneer John Logie Baird in the 1920s. In the 1930s, Heinrich Lamm showed that one could transmit images through a bundle of unclad optical fibers and used it for internal medical examinations, but his work was largely forgotten. In 1953, Dutch scientist Bram van Heel first demonstrated image transmission through bundles of optical fibers with

13310-431: The roof to other parts of the building (see nonimaging optics ). Optical-fiber lamps are used for illumination in decorative applications, including signs , art , toys and artificial Christmas trees . Optical fiber is an intrinsic part of the light-transmitting concrete building product LiTraCon . Optical fiber can also be used in structural health monitoring . This type of sensor can detect stresses that may have

13431-424: The selection of the raw materials, e.g., sodium selenite may be preferred over easily evaporating selenium dioxide (SeO 2 ). Also, more readily reacting raw materials may be preferred over relatively inert ones, such as aluminium hydroxide (Al(OH) 3 ) over alumina (Al 2 O 3 ). Usually, the melts are carried out in platinum crucibles to reduce contamination from the crucible material. Glass homogeneity

13552-561: The speed of manufacture to over 50 meters per second, making optical fiber cables cheaper than traditional copper ones. These innovations ushered in the era of optical fiber telecommunication. The Italian research center CSELT worked with Corning to develop practical optical fiber cables, resulting in the first metropolitan fiber optic cable being deployed in Turin in 1977. CSELT also developed an early technique for splicing optical fibers, called Springroove. Attenuation in modern optical cables

13673-603: The start of the 20th century. By the 17th century, glass in the Venetian tradition was also being produced in England . In about 1675, George Ravenscroft invented lead crystal glass, with cut glass becoming fashionable in the 18th century. Ornamental glass objects became an important art medium during the Art Nouveau period in the late 19th century. Throughout the 20th century, new mass production techniques led to

13794-469: The strength of glass. Carefully drawn flawless glass fibres can be produced with a strength of up to 11.5 gigapascals (1,670,000 psi). The observation that old windows are sometimes found to be thicker at the bottom than at the top is often offered as supporting evidence for the view that glass flows over a timescale of centuries, the assumption being that the glass has exhibited the liquid property of flowing from one shape to another. This assumption

13915-460: The system Al-Fe-Si may undergo a first-order transition to an amorphous form (dubbed "q-glass") on rapid cooling from the melt. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images indicate that q-glass nucleates from the melt as discrete particles with uniform spherical growth in all directions. While x-ray diffraction reveals the isotropic nature of q-glass, a nucleation barrier exists implying an interfacial discontinuity (or internal surface) between

14036-451: The widespread availability of glass in much larger amounts, making it practical as a building material and enabling new applications of glass. In the 1920s a mould -etch process was developed, in which art was etched directly into the mould so that each cast piece emerged from the mould with the image already on the surface of the glass. This reduced manufacturing costs and, combined with a wider use of coloured glass, led to cheap glassware in

14157-402: The year 1268. The study found that the room temperature viscosity of this glass was roughly 10   Pa · s which is about 10 times less viscous than a previous estimate made in 1998, which focused on soda-lime silicate glass. Even with this lower viscosity, the study authors calculated that the maximum flow rate of medieval glass is 1 nm per billion years, making it impossible to observe in

14278-673: Was first achieved in 1970 by researchers Robert D. Maurer , Donald Keck , Peter C. Schultz , and Frank Zimar working for American glass maker Corning Glass Works . They demonstrated a fiber with 17 dB/km attenuation by doping silica glass with titanium . A few years later they produced a fiber with only 4 dB/km attenuation using germanium dioxide as the core dopant. In 1981, General Electric produced fused quartz ingots that could be drawn into strands 25 miles (40 km) long. Initially, high-quality optical fibers could only be manufactured at 2 meters per second. Chemical engineer Thomas Mensah joined Corning in 1983 and increased

14399-517: Was originally used in the United Kingdom and United States during World War II to manufacture radomes . Uses of fibreglass include building and construction materials, boat hulls, car body parts, and aerospace composite materials. Glass-fibre wool is an excellent thermal and sound insulation material, commonly used in buildings (e.g. attic and cavity wall insulation ), and plumbing (e.g. pipe insulation ), and soundproofing . It

14520-556: Was rarely transparent and often contained impurities and imperfections, and is technically faience rather than true glass, which did not appear until the 15th century BC. However, red-orange glass beads excavated from the Indus Valley Civilization dated before 1700 BC (possibly as early as 1900 BC) predate sustained glass production, which appeared around 1600 BC in Mesopotamia and 1500 BC in Egypt. During

14641-426: Was upbeat. Conversely, positive ions generated a downbeat mood. Hansell researched the therapeutic possibilities of negative ions throughout his life. Current scientific studies support his findings, and negative ion therapy may be useful in alleviating depression in some people. He died in 1967. His papers are kept at State University of New York, Stony Brook . This article about an American inventor

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