Industry News

Edge-emitting Fiber

Fiber-optic lighting，Edge-emitting fiber is basically similar to end-emitting fiber except the core/cladding boundary is designed to be slightly inefficient. Instead of trapping all the light in the core, the boundary is rough and some light is scattered into the cladding where it becomes visible. By careful design, the fiber can have a smooth glow that looks much like a neon light tube. Smaller edge-emitting fibers have been woven into tapes that emit light in a band.

Since much of the light is lost by the edge-emission along the fiber, edge-emitting fiber has high attenuation. This may limit the lengths of edge-emitting fiber that can be used. This can be alleviated by illuminating the fiber from both ends by using two illuminators or looping the fiber back around to the same illuminator, or using reflective end caps to send excess light back up the fiber from the far end.