Lasers, Optics And The Men Behind Them

Lasers were introduced in 1958 as an efficient source of lighting. The idea was conceived by Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes to show that masers could be used in optical and infrared regions. In a nutshell, light is bounced back and forth in an energized carrier so as to generate augmented light as opposed to excited molecules of gas increased to create radio waves, which is the case with a maser. Laser stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. In 1961 a man named Elias Snitzer from American Optical published a theoretical account of single mode fibres whose core would be so small it could transmit light waves with only a one wave-guide size. Snitzer was subsequently able to display a laser directed through a very thin glass fibre that was adequate for medical applications. However, for communication applications the loss of light became too great. In the early 1970's, however, the Bell Laboratories created a modified chemical vapour deposition procedure which heated chemical vapours with oxygen so as to form ultra-transparent glass that could be mass-produced into optical fibres which experienced a very low-loss of light. This process still remains the norm for fibre optic cable manufacturing today. Various other methods came and went. The erbium-doped fibre amplifier, that lowered the cost of long-distance fibre systems by removing the need for optical-electrical-optical repeaters, was created in the mid 1980's by David Payne of the University of Southampton with the help of Emmanuel Desurvire at Bell Laboratories. Based on Desurvire's optimised laser amplification technology, the very first transatlantic telephone cable began operations in 1988. In 1991, Payne and Desurvire revealed optical amplifiers that were built into the fibre optic cables themselves. This all optic system could carry one hundred times more information than cables with electronic amplifiers. Remaining in 1991, photonic crystal fibres were developed. These fibres guide light by means of diffraction from a periodic structure rather than total internal reflection that allows power to be carried more efficiently then with traditional fibres, which improving performance. Today, a lage variety of industries including the medical, data storage, military, telecommunication, industrial, broadcast, and networking industries are able to apply and make use of fibre optic technology in a variety of applications thanks to these men and their forward thinking ideas. Are you or your business currently looking for fibre optics? Helukabel is one of Germany´s top cable companies, boasting an extensive range of cables, fibre optics wires, special cables, media technology, cable accessories, as well as data, network & bus technology.