Introduction: An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of silica or plastic, sl ightly thicker than a human hair.

It can function as a waveguide, or light pipe , t o transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. Optical fibers are widely us ed in fiber-optiapplications, including sensors and fiber lasers. Optical fibers typically include a transparent core surrounded by a transparent cladding material with a lower index of refraction. Light is kept in the core by total internal reflection. This causes the fiber to act as a waveguide. Fibers that support many propagation paths or transverse modes are called multi-mode fi bers (MMF), while those that only support a single mode are called single-mode f ibers (SMF). Multi-mode fibers generally have a wider core diameter, and are use d for short-distance communication links and for applications where high power m ust be transmitted while Single-mode fibers are used for longer distance communi cation links . Applications: 1. Optical fiber communication Optical fiber can be used as a medium for telecommunication and computer network ing because it is flexible and can be bundled as cables. It is especially advant ageous for long-distance communications, because light propagates through the fi ber with little attenuation compared to electrical cables. This allows long dist ances to be spanned with few repeaters. Fath. In some buildings, optical fibers route sunlight from the roof to other pa rts of the building.