Rayleigh Scattering - in Optical Fibers

In Optical Fibers

Rayleigh scattering is an important component of the scattering of optical signals in optical fibers. Silica fibers are disordered materials, thus their density varies, on a microscopic scale. The density fluctuations give rise to energy loss due to the scattered light, with the following coefficient:

where n is the refraction index, is the photoelastic coefficient of the glass, is Boltzmann constant, and is the isothermal compressibility. T_f is a fictive temperature, representing the temperature at which the density fluctuations are "frozen" in the material.