waveguide, any of a class of devices that confines and directs the propagation of electromagnetic waves, such as radio waves, infrared rays, and visible light. Waveguides take many shapes and forms. Typical examples include hollow metallic tubes, coaxial cables, and optical fibres.
Hollow metallic tubes or ducts of rectangular cross section are among the simplest and most commonly used waveguides. They are employed, for example, between a radio transmitter (or receiver) and its antenna. Circular metallic tubes are appropriate for such applications as radar in which two sections of the waveguide must rotate with respect to one another. In either type of configuration, radio waves are confined to the interior of the tube so as to minimize the loss of the radio-frequency power passing through it.
The coaxial cable, which consists of a tubular conductor surrounding a central conductor held in place by an insulating sheath, is widely employed for very high and very low frequencies. Such cables are used as a transmission line for transoceanic telephone communications and for closed-circuit television (e.g., cable television). Coaxial cables are well suited for such long-distance transmission because the central conductor is shielded from external electrical noise (i.e., interference) by the outer conducting material.
Since the late 1970s optical fibres have found increasing application in relatively long distance telephone circuits. Such waveguides transmit information in the form of infrared or light signals produced by semiconductor lasers. An optical fibre typically consists of a glass core region that is surrounded by glass cladding. The core region has a larger refractive index than the cladding so that the light is confined to the core as it propagates along the fibre.
Optical fibres have several advantages over coaxial cables. They can carry information at a considerably higher rate, occupy less space (the diameter of an optical fibre is only a small fraction of that of a human hair), and are insensitive to electrical noise. Because of these factors, optical fibres are now widely used to transmit data, sound, and images over long-distance telephone lines. Optical fibres also provide an excellent high-speed communication link between computers interconnected in networks.