ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the use of polymer fibers for passive applications such as in transmission systems and displays, light sources, and amplification. Transmission applications include optical interconnects between chips and circuit boards, which are tens of centimeters in length, to long-distance applications, which require kilometers of fiber. Amplification is important in telecommunications applications such as in repeaters, which amplify the signal that is lost due to transmission losses. Fiber amplifiers and light sources, while important for telecommunication, are also important all-purpose stand-alone light sources. We also discuss more whimsical applications such as polymer optical fiber displays in textiles.
