How Are Lasers Used in Communication?

Fiber optics can carry laser light.

Though copper wire is still used for communications, lasers are being used for many high-speed networks. Phone and data companies use laser light in fiber optic cables to carry an expanding array of voice, data and television signals.

Laser

(Reference 3) The laser, developed in the 1960s, is a source of extremely pure light. "Laser" is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

Modulation

For communications, laser light passes through a device called a modulator. It changes the light's intensity millions of times per second, sending large volumes of data with it.

Detection

At the receiving end of a communications line, a detector receives the laser light. The detector detects the intensity changes and reclaims the data from it, much as a radio receives music from radio waves.

Bandwidth

The ability to carry information in a communications line is called bandwidth. Lasers, being light sources, have more bandwidth than radio and other media.

Fiber Optics

Fiber optics is a cable that carries light much as a copper cable carries electricity. Laser light can travel efficiently through miles of fiber optic cable.

Free Space Optics

Laser communications traveling through the air without a cable are called Free Space Optics. Using Free Space Optics, you can set up high-speed communications in remote locations.

References

• Free Space Optics: Technology
• RP Photonics: Optical Fiber Communications
• Hyperphysics: Lasers