Product Portfolio
Our range of cost-effective plastic optical fibers (POF) is entirely made of polymer materials. These multi mode, step-index fibers feature low loss and high reliability.
Plastic optical fiber cords, curl cords or cables with PE, PVC, or PP jacket, as well as light guides with up to 64 fibers are also available within this family of products. These plastic optical fibers show good resistance to heat, physical determination and chemicals.
Related Products
Beyond plastic optical fibers, our large portfolio of optical and specialty fibers for a wide wavelength range includes silica- or glass-based single mode (SM) fibers, multi mode (MM) fibers and polarization maintaining (PM) fibers as well as doped fibers.
Complementing our optical fiber offerings, AMS Technologies carries a large portfolio of fiber connectors, accompanied by a range of corresponding female mating sleeves and adapters. AMS Technologies can also offer an end-to-end solution for the assembly and test of fiber connectors that is exactly tailored to your requirements. In our broad portfolio you can find tools for stripping and cleaving your fibers, gluing and curing the fiber into the fiber connector using optical adhesives, polishing and cleaning of fiber optic end faces (especially important if the fiber is used with higher optical power), and finally testing your fiber connector with microscopes, interferometers as well as handheld and automated test equipment measuring return loss.
If you prefer pre-manufactured, ready to use fibers with the connectors already assembled to them, take a look at our range of SM, MM or PM patch cables. Shaped fiber tips or endcaps are further available options, improving the performance of the fiber-to-air interface, especially for high optical powers.
You need multiple fibers with or without connectors, manufactured, bundled and tested to your specifications? AMS Technologies has a proven track record of working with our OEM customers to design and build the most different configurations of bundled assemblies for a wide variety of photonics systems. Get in touch with the AMS Technologies optical fiber experts to discuss your customized fiber assembly or bundle that is tailored to meet your project’s specific requirements.
Definition
Optical fibers can be used for many different applications, with the main purpose to transport light over a certain distance. Optical fibers consist mainly of a core with a certain diameter, a cladding and a coating.
Compared to optical fibers with cores made of silica or composite glass, plastic optical fibers (POF) are entirely made of polymer materials. Not only coatings and jackets, but also fiber core and cladding consist of polymers.
While showing higher attenuation and lower transmission capacity, plastic optical fibers are less brittle, more flexible, easier to handle and very cost-effective. Typical areas of use are short-range data communications, illumination (mostly with larger core diameters to transmit larger amounts of light) and industrial applications.
Step-index Fibers
The core of a step-index fiber shows a uniform refractive index over its entire cross-section. At the boundary between the core and the cladding there is a sharp jump (step) in the refractive index, leading to total reflection of the light at that interface. This causes the light beam to repeatedly cross the axis of the fiber in a zigzag pattern. Due to path length differences, light beams entering the fiber from different angles have different times of travel through the fiber, which leads to modal dispersion or intermodal distortion for multiple modes of light. Therefore, step-index fibers are more suitable for low transmission speeds and short distances but have advantages in applications with high optical power density.
Alternative Terms: Plastic Fiber; PO Fiber; POF; Plastic Fiber Optic Cable; Plastic Optical Cable; Plastic Optical Fiber Cord; Curl Cord; Light Guide
