Editing Optical attenuator (section)

==Applications==
Optical attenuators are commonly used in [[fiber-optic communication]]s, either to test power level margins by temporarily adding a calibrated amount of signal loss, or installed permanently to properly match transmitter and receiver levels. Sharp bends stress optic fibers and can cause losses. If a received signal is too strong a temporary fix is to wrap the cable around a pencil until the desired level of [[Attenuation (electromagnetic radiation)|attenuation]] is achieved.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The FOA Reference For Fiber Optics - Using Attenuators With Fiber Optic Data Links - |url=https://www.thefoa.org/tech/ref/appln/attenuators.html |access-date=2024-03-26 |website=www.thefoa.org}}</ref> However, such arrangements are unreliable, since the stressed fiber tends to break over time.
Generally, multimode systems do not need attenuators as the multimode sources, rarely have enough power output to saturate receivers. Instead, single-mode systems, especially the long-haul DWDM network links, often need to use fiber optic attenuators to adjust the optical power during the transmission.