Optics at Bell Laboratories–Optical Communications

Abstract

Optical communications—that is, the transmission of information by means of light—has been a subject of interest to Bell Labs for a long time, but the invention of the laser made it a concern of considerable and immediate importance, providing the impetus for a range of studies on possible transmission media, principles, methods, and components for systems. This survey attempts to tell how the work started and grew at Bell Labs, in addition to providing references to the many papers that describe the work in detail.