Introduction to the Issue on Optical Waveguide Technology and Applications

The papers in this special section focus on optical waveguide technology and applications for its use. It seems a long time ago since Hondros and Debye in the year 1910 published the Cylindrical Dielectric Waveguide Theory and since Charles Kao in the 1960s developed the first breakthroughs of fiber optic technology. Huge steps, however, have been made since then to develop optical fibers into components, systems, and optical fiber networks. Groundbreaking research has allowed access to THz bandwidth from optical fibers carrying today’s huge Internet traffic. Advances in lasers, optical fiber amplifiers, and numerous optical fiber types, components, and devices have been developed promising even further strides in pushing performance barriers and the optical fiber as the core medium for the future of human communications and a necessary part of infrastructure for improving quality of human life.