Review of the Status of Optical Fiber Transmission and Integrated Optics

Since the first low-loss fibers were reported in 1970, optical transmission research has focused almost entirely on the use of fibers. Earlier work on transmission via periodically focused beams had spawned the need for integrated optics -- using single-mode optical circuitry in miniature dielectric waveguides -- in order to make feasible multiple carrier transmission medium. In both of these two fields -- lightwave transmission on fibers and integrated optics -- there has been exceptional technological progress.