Feature
The Light at the End of the Tunnel
Recent innovations in hollow-core fiber are enabling this emerging technology to challenge the dominance of traditional glass fiber.
An example of a hollow-core fiber. [EPFL]
Our increasingly data-driven world has catalyzed remarkable technological innovation, from photonic components and systems used to send, amplify and receive optical signals to sophisticated electronics equipment that decodes and processes the digital data. Among all that transformational change, one critical component of optical communications systems has remained relatively unchanged: the fine strands of solid glass optical fiber that transmit extraordinary amounts of data over networks spanning thousands of kilometers.
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