Plastic-clad silica fiber

In telecommunications and fiber optics, a plastic-clad silica fiber or polymer-clad silica fiber (PCS) is an optical fiber that has a silica-based core and a plastic cladding. The cladding of a PCS fiber should not be confused with the polymer overcoat of a conventional all-silica fiber. PCS fibers in general have significantly lower performance characteristics, particularly higher transmission losses and lower bandwidths, than all-glass fibers.

The main applications of plastic-clad silica fiber are industrial, medical or sensing applications where cores that are larger than those used in standard data communications fibers are advantageous.

See also

• All-silica fiber
• Hard-clad silica optical fiber
• Plastic optical fiber

References

•  This article incorporates public domain material from the General Services Administration document "Federal Standard 1037C".