What material is primarily used as the core in fiber optic cables?

• Optical fibers are cylindrical solid glass material acting as waveguides made of two concentric layers of very pure glass.
• The core (the interior layer) with refractive index n1 serves as the medium for light propagation, while the cladding (the exterior layer) has a lower refractive index n2 where n1 > n2 assuring that light rays are reflected to the core.
• Since the cladding does not absorb any light from the core, the light wave can travel great distances.

Working:

• The working principle of optical fibers is Total Internal Reflection.
• Optical fiber mostly used for communication purposes with negligible loss of energy.
• The “Total Internal Reflection” of light is the boundary between transparent media of two different refractive indices.
• At present, Optical fiber cables are used for communication like sending images, voice messages, etc.
• The designing of this cable is done with Plastic or glass so that data can be transmitted effectively and quickly than other modes of communications.