How is plastic fibre material used in optical fibres?
Plastic fibre:
Plastic fibre is classically made of plastic. Such are low cost optical fibres. They have a huge NA and a huge refractive index variation among the core and cladding. Plastic fibre-optic cable consists of the highest attenuation; due to nature of the material they give larger signal attenuation than glass fibres. Though, this drawback is overcome by their durability and ruggedness. Plastic fibre-optic cable consists of a plastic core and plastic cladding.
Illustrations:
a. Polystyrene (core) – methylmethacrylate (cladding)
b. Polymethylmethacrylate (core) – copolymer (cladding)