Fiber Optic Connectors

Fiber Optic Connectors

Optical fibers are constructed from three main components: the core, the cladding and the buffer coating. The core serves to carry light pulses, the cladding reflects those light pulses back to the core and the buffer coating protects both the cladding and the core. Fiber optics is an entire field of study in which there is an overlap between applied science and engineering, and generally consists of the construction and later application of optical fibers. There is a diverse range of applications and industries in which fiber optic connectors are utilized, including: telecommunications, in which the transmission of communication is enabled over long distances and high bandwidths; industrial manufacturing, for control and voltage isolation in various electrical systems; automotive, for vehicle electrical networks in cars, trucks, vans, sports utility vehicles (SUVs), etc.; electronics, for gaming equipment, audio systems, adapters, etc.; and medical, for the connection of various equipment and instrumentation of electric circuits, such as intubation during medical procedures.

The principle behind fiber optics is based on utilizing light pulses in order to carry up to 10 million electrical messages. In terms of fiber optic connectors, the principle aim is to both align and join together two or more fibers to function as a means of transmitting, receiving, attaching to or decoupling from a variety of other fiber optic equipment. There is a wide range of fiber optic connector types, and some of the more common types include: bionic connectors, D4 connectors, FC connectors, FDDI connectors and MTP connectors. Bionic fiber optic connectors are manufactured with tapered ends in order to better suit precision-dependent applications requiring low insertion loss. D4 fiber optic connectors are manufactured from a composite zirconia ceramic ferrule in order to provide durability, and feature a threaded mounting system and keyed body. FC connectors are manufactured from an all zirconia ceramic ferrule and offer the characteristics of repeatability and intermateability. FDDI (fiber distributed data interface) connectors are primarily manufactured for use in FDDI systems, and were designed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Lastly, MTP ('M'ultiple 'T'erminations, 'P'ush-pull latch) connectors are best-suited for use in high density applications and feature a threaded design.