Rare Earth

Silica is an extraordinary material. It is strong, stable, abundant, easily processed, can be manufactured in extremely pure form and, above all, is remarkably transparent to light of visible, and particularly near infrared, wavelengths. Even more crucial for its application in optical fibre communications is the fact that its material dispersion parameter becomes negative at wavelengths greater than 1.3 |im and, in fibre form, can be compensated by simple, appropriate fibre design.