SPLICE-FREE FIBER OPTIC RECIRCULATING MEMORY

A fiber optic recirculating memory is disclosed which utilizes a single splice-free single mode optical fiber (12) coupled to itself to form a loop (140) which acts as a delay line. A single signal supplied as an input to the optical fiber (12) will result in a series of output signals of identical form to the input signal, although at smaller, decreasing amplitudes. In addition to being useful as a recirculating memory device for use in a system where data is generated at a rate faster than it can be accepted by a data processor (154), the invention may be used as a tap filter (171) to pass a selected fundamental frequency and its harmonics, and to attenuate all other frequencies.