Low-loss optical fibre
Fibra óptica de baja pérdida
- Date
- 1966-1970 · confidence high
- Place
- Standard Telecommunication Laboratories, Harlow, United Kingdom (theory); Corning, New York, United States (manufacturing, 1970)
- Credited to
- Charles Kao and George Hockham (STL, 1966); Robert Maurer, Donald Keck and Peter Schultz (Corning, 1970)
- People
- 👤 Charles K. Kao1933–2018👤 Donald Keck1941–👤 George Hockham1938–2013👤 Peter G. Schultz1956–
- Field
- Communication
What it is
An ultra-pure glass thread that guides laser light pulses with minimal loss over kilometres. It is the nervous system of the internet and of global telecommunications.
What it led to
- Submarine fibre-optic cables and the globalisation of communications
- Home broadband and streaming
- Endoscopy and optical sensors
Built on
- Snell's law of refraction1621
- Light guided by a water jet (Colladon)1841-1842
- Maxwell's equations1861-1865
- Rayleigh scattering and the blue sky1871
- Germanium1886
- Coherent optical-fibre bundle (fibrescope)1954
- The laser (and maser)1960
- Visible light-emitting diode (LED)1962
- Semiconductor laser diode1962
- ultrapure silica glass
Made possible
- Flexible fibre-optic endoscope1957
- Erbium-doped fibre amplifier1987
- TAT-8 transatlantic fiber-optic cable1988
- TAT-8 submarine cable
- FTTH broadband
- fibre endoscope
- global internet