Plastic optical fibers

This final project report presents an investigation of plastic optical fibers (POFs), reviewing their fundamental characteristics, performance parameters, fabrication methods and different applications in various fields. The report explores how POFs implementation can effectively address some current challenges such as “the last hundred meter” problem. Starting with an introduction to basic principles and types of optical fiber. Moreover, it highlights specific properties of POFs like flexibility, larger core diameter and low cost compared to other materials, used for optical fibers, like glass optical fibers that are widely used now. It also points out the current challenges in POFs implementation like high attenuation, bandwidth limitation and dispersion. The performance of POFs was explored through fundamental parameters like bandwidth, optical losses and modal noise. Different manufacturing methods were also reviewed, including the fabrication process of step-index and graded-index POFs and techniques used in industrial production. Furthermore, the study reviews different applications of POFs in multiple fields such as home networking, industrial automation, automotive systems and high-performance interconnects inside computers. In addition to applications in aerospace and military due to POFs compact size, low weight, and resistance to harsh conditions. Finally, POFs based sensors for crack and structural monitoring. Using this analysis, the report presents both the capabilities and limitations of POFs and describes future research aimed at improving their performance and expanding their integration into a wider range of systems across different fields.