What is Quartz Fiber Optic?

What is quartz fiber optic? Quartz optical fiber is an optical fiber with a core of pure quartz glass with a high refractive index and a sheath of organic or inorganic material with a low refractive index. Quartz fiber optic is the abbreviation of optical fiber. It is a fiber-shaped waveguide structure made of extremely high-purity quartz glass (with SiO2 as the main component).

Brief Introduction of Quartz Fiber Optic

The basic function of quartz optical fiber is to bind and propagate light beams. That is, light energy of a certain wavelength bound within a radial range of several to tens of microns and propagated along the length of the quartz optical fiber with low loss. The basic characteristics of quartz fiber optic as a transmission medium expressed by transmission capacity. It is equal to the product of transmission rate and transmission distance. The loss and dispersion (or bandwidth) of quartz optical fiber determine the transmission distance and transmission performance indicators. Among the various transmission media that have been used, the bandwidth potential of quartz optical fiber is unmatched by other media.

Characteristics of Quartz

1. Quartz is optically transparent over a wide wavelength range. If the optical fiber preform made very pure by a specific method, then in the near-infrared spectral region, especially around 1500nm wavelength, it has very low absorption and scattering losses. It is on the order of 0.2dB/km.
2. Quartz can drawn into optical fiber at very high temperatures. And the glass transition temperature range is also relatively wide (relatively shallow viscosity curve).
3. The chemical composition of quartz is very stable. In particular, it is not hygroscopic.
4. Quartz glass can doped with various materials. One purpose of doping is to increase the refractive index. For example, doping with GeO2 or Al2O3 or to reduce the refractive index. For example, doping with fluorine or B2O3. It can also doped with laser-active ions to obtain active optical fibers. It is used in fiber amplifiers or fiber lasers. Sometimes the fiber core doped and sometimes the fiber cladding is doped. In this way, the material becomes aluminosilicate, germanosilicate, phosphosilicate or borosilicate glass. Especially active optical fibers.

Characteristics of Quartz Optical Fiber

1. Quartz optical fiber is easy to cut and weld.
2. Quartz fiber optic has strong mechanical strength and can resist stretching and even bending. The premise is that the optical fiber is not too thick and the optical fiber surface has been processed. The use of a polymer protective sleeve can further improve the mechanical strength of the optical fiber. The quartz pipeline port can get a very smooth and high-quality surface even with very simple cutting.
3. The main material of quartz fiber optic is SiO2, whose specific gravity is 2.2. The specific gravity of copper is 8.9, and the outer diameter of quartz optical fiber is only 125mm. Coaxial cable is about 100mm. Coaxial cable is a double-layer conductor structure. Therefore, the weight per unit length can be thousands of times that of optical fiber. Therefore, the transportation and construction costs are much higher than those of quartz optical fiber.
4. There is no electromagnetic leakage in the transmission process of quartz fiber optic. This is not only conducive to confidentiality, but also avoids crosstalk of the line.
5. The transmission of quartz optical fiber not affected by external electromagnetic radiation. It can cooperate in harsh environments such as near motors and nuclear test sites. It is also strong and resistant to atmospheric erosion.
6. The amplitude, phase, polarization state, wavelength and other physical quantities of the specially designed fiber optic can modulated by the external environment. The interferometer is composed of quartz optical fiber. Through phase detection, extremely high detection sensitivity can be obtained. Therefore, quartz fiber optic has become a sensing medium widely used in industrial automatic control, military reconnaissance and other fields.
7. After certain elements added to quartz optical fiber, it will become a gain medium. It can made into fiber lasers with different properties. Fiber laser is an important development direction in the field of lasers. It plays a very important role in the miniaturization and practical application of lasers. It is the entry point for laser technology to enter the information field.

Quartz Fiber Optic Usage

Quartz fiber optic can be used in many areas. For example, fiber optic communications (except for very short distances where plastic fiber is used). Most fiber lasers and amplifiers, and fiber optic sensors. A lot of work and effort in developing different types of silica fibers has further improved the performance of this fiber. It has advantages over other materials.