{{Short description|Distribution of refractive indices of materials within an optical fiber}} {{One source|date=March 2026}}
A '''refractive index profile'''<ref>{{cite web |title=The challenges of measuring the refractive index profiles of large and specialty fibers - Arden Photonics |url=https://ardenphotonics.com/market/the-challenges-of-measuring-the-refractive-index-profiles-of-large-and-specialty-fibers/ |website=ardenphotonics.com |access-date=23 March 2026 |date=19 April 2023}}</ref> is the distribution of refractive indices of materials within an optical fiber. Some optical fiber has a step-index profile, in which the core has one uniformly-distributed index and the cladding has a lower uniformly-distributed index. Other optical fiber has a graded-index profile, in which the refractive index varies gradually as a function of radial distance from the fiber center. Graded-index profiles include power-law index profiles and parabolic index profiles.
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Fiber optics Category:Refraction
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