Choosing the Right Fiber: POF or Glass?

What Is Polymer Optical Fiber?

Polymer optical fiber (POF) is an optical fiber made of polymer material with a core layer and a cladding structure for transmitting optical signals. POF can be divided into two types according to the refractive index distribution: gradient index (GI) POF and step index (SI) POF. The main features of POF include good flexibility, light weight, low cost and easy processing. These characteristics make polymer optical fiber widely used in short-distance communication, sensing and lighting.

Product Performance

• High bandwidth: capable of transmitting large amounts of data at high speed.
• Large core diameter: can be more easily coupled with light sources and detectors.
• Flexibility: can be easily bent and shaped without breaking.
• Lower cost: usually cheaper to manufacture and install than glass optical fiber.
• Longer wavelength: works at longer wavelengths (usually 650-950 nm).

Polymer Optical Fiber vs. Glass Optical Fiber

POF offers several advantages over glass optical fiber, including lower cost, flexibility, ease of installation, and the use of visible light. However, POF also has limitations, such as shorter transmission distances and lower temperature tolerance.

Glass optical fiber is better suited for long-distance applications due to its higher bandwidth and ability to withstand extreme temperatures. However, glass optical fiber is more expensive, fragile, and requires specialized equipment and trained technicians for installation.

The choice between POF and glass optical fiber depends on the specific requirements of the application. Herein, Alfa Chemistry summarizes the important parameter comparison between POF and glass optical fiber for your reference.

Polymer Materials Used for POF

Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)

• PMMA is the most popular and commonly used POF material, with a glass transition temperature (T_g) of about 105 °C, and the operating temperature range of commercial PMMA POF is generally -55 °C ~105 °C.
• The refractive index is 1.49, with good tensile strength and easy processing characteristics.
• The transmission window of PMMA is mainly in the visible light range, including around 520 nm, 570 nm and 650 nm.
• For wavelengths above 600 nm, the attenuation increases due to the vibration absorption loss of the C-H bond.

Polystyrene (PS)

• PS is the second largest core material for POF, with a large NA and good light transmittance.
• The biggest advantage of PS is that it shows low attenuation in the range of 670 nm~680 nm.

Polycarbonate (PC)

• The refractive index of PC is 1.59 and T_g is about 145 °C. Compared with other materials, it can work at higher temperatures.
• The main advantage of PC actually lies in its well-balanced combination of optical and mechanical properties.

CYTOP

• Optical fibers based on perfluoropolymers have a wider spectral range (650 nm ~1300 nm), and the loss in this range is usually less than 50 dB/km.
• Conventional perfluoropolymers cannot be used in the optical field due to their poor transparency. However, CYTOP is an amorphous perfluoropolymer with high light transmittance.

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Applications of POF

In the field of communications, with the advancement of technology, the transmission loss of quartz optical fiber has approached the theoretical limit. POF has been widely used due to its advantages of anti-interference, low cost, radiation resistance, light weight, large diameter, easy coupling, etc. It is considered the best choice for short-distance communication due to its unique advantages.

At the same time, POF has also been widely used in the field of sensing. It can not only be used in smart devices, but also in health monitoring, biomedicine and environmental testing.

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