Final answer:
Microbending attenuation in optical fibers is caused by external bending and disrupts the transmission of light, but cladding helps maintain signal integrity by preventing light from transferring between fibers.
Step-by-step explanation:
Microbending attenuation is caused by external mechanisms that bend the optical fiber. This type of attenuation can disrupt the light path in fiber optics. Fiber optics involves the transmission of light down fibers of plastic or glass, applying the principle of total internal reflection. This principle ensures that light is reflected back into the core of the fiber if the incident angle is greater than the critical angle.
To maintain signal quality, optical fibers are surrounded by cladding, which has a lower index of refraction than the core and prevents light from escaping or transferring between fibers in the bundle. As a result, the cladding protects against signal distortion and aids in delivering a quality image or information at the end of the transmission.