ABSTRACT
Fibre-optic cables transmit data through very small cores at the speed of light. Significantly different from copper cables, fibre-optic cables offer high bandwidths and low losses, which allow high data-transmission rates over long distances. There are three common types of fibre-optic cables: single-mode, multi-mode, and graded-index (GRIN). This chapter discusses the fabrication processes used in manufacturing fibre cables. It details the methods of coupling a light source with a fibre cable in the manufacturing of optical fibre devices. The chapter then compares fibre and copper cables and describe the applications of fibre-optic cables in many fields and sectors of modern society. It also presents four experimental cases, including fibre cable inspection and handling, fibre cable end preparation, numerical aperture measurements and calculations and fibre cable power output intensity measurements and calculations. Polarisation maintaining (PM) fibres are constructed by placing specially designed asymmetries into the core. They maintain the electromagnetic field vector direction.
