optical fiber

American  

noun

1. a very thin, flexible glass or plastic strand along which large quantities of information can be transmitted in the form of light pulses: used in telecommunications, medicine, and other fields.

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optical fiber Scientific  

1. A flexible transparent fiber of extremely pure glass or plastic, generally between 10 and 200 micrometers in diameter, used especially to carry light signals for telecommunication purposes.

2. See more at fiber optics

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Etymology

Origin of optical fiber

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

An affordable quantum internet would rely on the same optical fibers used now.

From Science Daily

It was one of the stranger and more monotonous jobs in astronomy: plugging optical fibers into hundreds of holes in aluminum plates.

From Science Magazine

It would tighten security requirements for next-generation wireless and optical fiber networks and fine violators.

From Washington Times

Depending on the opsin, researchers can excite or inhibit neurons by shining light on them, usually via an implanted optical fiber.

From Science Magazine

He and his colleagues demonstrated their ideas using a quantum network with eight nodes in which the most distant nodes were 17 kilometers apart, as measured by the length of the optical fiber connecting them.

From Scientific American