High-Speed Lightwave Transmission in Optical Fibers

There has been considerable progress in the telecommunications technology based on the transmission of lightwaves through optical fibers. Systems experiments in the 1.55-micrometer band have now demonstrated the capability of transmitting at rates as high as 2 gigabits per second over fiber lengths exceeding 100 kilometers, without the use of repeaters to boost the signal. Elements of this progress are advances in the fabrication of low-loss single-mode fibers, in the spectral control of semiconductor junction lasers assuring single-frequency operation, and in high-speed detectors and receivers.