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Data is carried along fiber optic cable by pulses of
colored light. The light is produced by a tiny laser at the end of the
cable and strengthened along the way by other lasers that pump specific
colors into the line. (Most commonly pump lasers are either 980 or 1480
nanometers -- millions of a meter). Both lasers that emit the colored
light and those that pump the light along the way become hot in operation.
This reduces the life of the laser and causes it to change color which can
result in transmission problems.
In order to solve these problems, Marlow provides a tiny
(roughly 1/8 inch square) solid state heat pump called a thermoelectric
cooler which is connected to the laser. This cools the laser down to below
70 degrees Fahrenheit and extends the life of the laser and keeps its
signal color (and wavelength) very stable. This allows many colors to
travel down the same optical fiber at the same time (called DWDM - Dense
Wavelength-Division Multiplexing). This creates more bandwidth with the
same number of fiber lines.
As consumer hunger for high bandwidth Internet applications
(voice/video communications, movies on demand, high-quality games)
continues, hot technology will create more and more capacity. Cooling it
down and enabling it to perform will be Marlow Industries, providing
solutions for fiber optic laser temperature control.
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