Plastic-clad silica fiber 41560 130964250 2007-05-15T04:53:22Z MindlessXD 481404 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 [[Fiber_optics#Principle_of_operation|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 (telecommunications)|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]] *[[Plastic optical fiber]] ==References== *[[Federal Standard 1037C]] {{optics-stub}} [[Category:Optical fiber]]