In fiber optic technology, a reference surface is that surface of an optical fiber that is used to contact the transverse-alignment elements of a component such as a connector or mechanical splice. For telecommunications-grade fibers, the reference surface is the outer surface of the cladding. For plastic-clad silica (PCS) fibers, which have a strippable polymer cladding (not to be confused with the polymer overcoat of an all-silica fiber), the reference surface may be the core.
Famous quotes containing the words reference and/or surface:
“The common behavior of mankind is the system of reference by means of which we interpret an unknown language.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)
“All beauties contain, like all possible phenomena, something eternal and something transitory,—something absolute and something particular. Absolute and eternal beauty does not exist, or rather it is only an abstraction skimmed from the common surface of different sorts of beauty. The particular element of each beauty comes from the emotions, and as we each have our own particular emotions, so we have our beauty.”
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)