Fiber Optic Lighting Components

Do you know how work the Plastic Optic Fiber?

Fiber Optic Lighting uses Optical fiber as a [light pipe," transmitting light from a source through the fiber to a remote location. Some lighting uses large plastic fibers like the one above while others use bundles of glass or plastic fibers to transmit more light. The light may be emitted from the end of the fiber creating a small spotlight effect (also called [end glow") or emitted from the outside of the fiber along its length like a neon or fluorescent tube (also called [side glow").

Optical fibers used for lighting are similar to fibers used in communications, but they are optimized for transmitting light not high-speed signals. The fibers consist of a core that transmits the light and an optical cladding that traps the light in the core of the fiber. Unlike communications fibers that use small cores to maximize bandwidth, lighting fibers use large cores with thin claddings to maximize coupling of the light from the illuminator into the fiber. Side-emitting fibers have a rough interface between the core and the cladding to scatter some of the light out of the core along the length of the fiber to create a consistent lighted look similar to neon light tubes.