OPTICAL FIBER CONNECTORS

The optical connectors are generally used to join sources as well as detectors
to optical fiber temporarily.

Some of the principal requirements of a good connector design are as follows:

Low losses
Interchangeability
Ease of assembly
Low environmental sensitivity
Low-cost and reliable construction
Ease of connection
 Why?
 Optical fiber connectors are used to join optical fibers where a connect/disconnect capability is
required.
 Due to the polishing and tuning procedures that may be incorporated into optical connector
manufacturing, connectors are generally assembled onto optical fiber in a supplier’s
manufacturing facility.
 However, the assembly and polishing operations involved can be performed in the field, for
example, to make cross connect jumpers to size.
 Optical fiber connectors are used in telephone company central offices, at installations on
customer premises, and in outside plant applications to connect equipment and cables, or to
cross connect cables.
 Most optical fiber connectors are spring loaded, so the fiber faces are pressed together when the
connectors are mated.
 The resulting glass to glass or plastic to plastic contact eliminates signal losses that would be
caused by an air gap between the joined fibers
 TYPES OF FIBER CONNECTORS
Basically there are four types of Fiber optic connectors:
Butt Joint.
Resilient ferrule.
Grooved plate hybrids.
Expanded beam.
Lets concentrate on Butt Joint and Expanded Beam.

Straight sleeve Tapered sleeve

 BUTT JOINT CONNECTORS
• Butt joint connectors employ a metal, ceramic or molded plastic ferrule
for each fiber and a precision sleeve into which the ferrule fit.
• The fiber is epoxied into a precision hole which has been drilled into the
ferrule.
• They are of two type: Straight Sleeve and Tapered Sleeve.
• In Straight sleeve connector, the
length of the sleeve and a guide
ring on the ferrules determine the
end separation of fibers.
• In tapered sleeve, it uses a tapered
sleeve to accept and guide tapered
ferrules.
• Again the sleeve length and guide
rings maintain a given fiber-end
separation.
 EXPANDED BEAM CONNECTOR
It employs lenses on the ends of the fibers.
These lenses either collimate the light from
transmitting fiber or focus the expanded beam onto
the core of the receiving filter.
Fiber to lens distance = focal length of lens.

Advantages:
• Connector is less dependent on lateral alignments.
• Beam splitters and switches can be easily inserted
into expanded beam between fiber ends.
Classification of Optical Connector:
 Types of Optical Connectors:

 SC (Subscriber or Square or Standard connector)

 ST (Straight Tip)
 Fc (Ferrule Connector or Fiber Channel)
 LC (Lucent Connector)
 MT-RJ (Mechanical Transfer Registered Jack or Media Termination -
Recommended Jack)
 Mu (Miniature Unit)
 SMA (Subminiature Version A)
 SC
(Subscriber or Square or Standard connector)
 Details of SC:
(Subscriber or Square or Standard connector)
 Manufactured By: NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone) of Japan.
 Application: SC Connectors are frequently used for Network applications. SC
connector is widely used in single mode systems. SC connectors have low cost and they
are simple and durable.
 Ferrule Diameter: It has a 2.5mm diameter ferrule, made of ceramic or metal. A
124~127µm diameter hole is drilled in the center of the ferrule. They provide accurate
alignment due to ceramic ferrules.
 Standard: IEC 61754-4
 Coupling Type: It has a square shaped design, with push-pull latching mechanism. Its
molded housing provides optimum protection.
 Losses & Other Details: The SC connector is also available in a Duplex configuration.
SC connectors allow up to 1000 mating cycle. They have insertion loss of 0.25 dB and
return loss >55 dB. They are available in single and multimode.
 Price:Rs.=1199/- Approx.
ST (straight tip) Connector:
 Details of ST (straight tip) Connector:
 Manufactured By: AT&T
 Application: ST connectors are used in telecommunications field for local network
applications. They are the most commonly used connectors for multimode
applications.
 Ferrule Diameter: It has a 2.5mm keyed long cylindrical ferrule for the durability
and repeatability requirements in telecommunication links.
 Standard: IEC 61 754-2 standard[9]
 Coupling Type: It has a twist-lock bayonet coupling. Couplers are spring-loaded.
They come in push-in and twist types. Because they are spring-loaded, they must be
seated properly. It must be removed and reconnected if high insertion loss is
observed. It can be inserted and removed easily due to its design. It can have metal
or plastic housing.
 Losses & Other Details: They are available in simplex version only. It allows 500
mating cycles. The Insertion Loss for correctly matched ST connectors is 0.25 dB. It is
available in single mode as well as multimode fibers.
 Price:Rs=1390/- Approx.
 FC
(Ferrule connector or fiber channel)
 Details of FC
(Ferrule connector or fiber channel)
 Manufactured By: AT
 Application: It is designed for telecommunication applications. It is being used in
long haul and local network connections. They are also useful in high-vibration
environments. [4]
 Ferrule Diameter: FC connector also has a 2.5mm ferrule made of ceramic
(zirconia) or stainless alloy)
 Standard: IEC 61 754-143
 Coupling Type: It is designed with a threaded coupling. Due to such coupling,
connections are durable. It makes use of screw on mechanism in couplers.
 Losses & Other Details: It is available in simplex mode only. It is rated for 500
mating cycles. The Insertion Loss for FC connectors is 0.25 dB. It is available in
single mode and multimode. It is now gradually being replaced by SC and LC
connectors.
 Price:Rs=1199/- Approx.
LC (Lucent Connector)
 Details of LC (Lucent Connector)
 Manufactured By: Lucent
 Application: The LC has good performance and is highly favored for single
mode. Due to its small size, it is used for high-density connections.
 Ferrule Diameter: LC connectors use a 1.25mm ceramic ferrule –half the size
of the 2.5mm ferrule used in above mentioned connectors.
 Standard: IEC 61754-20
 Coupling Type: simplex and duplex – push and latch
 Losses & Other Details: Externally LC connectors resemble a standard RJ45
telephone jack. Internally they resemble a miniature version of the SC
connector. Insertion loss is <0.2 dB and return loss >50 dB. The LC is a small
form-factor (SFF) Fiber optic connector.
 Price:Rs=1379/- Approx.
 MT-RJ
(Mechanical Transfer Registered Jack or Media
Termination - recommended jack)
 Details of MT-RJ Connector:
 Manufactured By: Tyco Inc.
 Application: MT-RJ connectors are used in building communication systems for
duplex multimode connections.
 Ferrule Diameter: It has a miniature 2.45×4.4 mm two-fiber ferrule with two
guide pins parallel to the fibers on the outside. It is easier to terminate and
install than ST or SC connectors. [5]
 Standard: IEC 61754-18
 Coupling type: It is derived from MT ferrule design. The guide pins align ferrules
precisely when mating two MT-RJ connectors. MT-RJ connectors are designed
with male-female polarity which means male MT-RJ connector has two guide
pins and female MT-RJ connector has two holes instead. MT-RJ uses a form
factor and latch similar to the RJ45 connectors. Two separate fibers are included
in one unified connector. The small size allows double the density than ST or SC
connectors.
 Price:Rs=2400/- Approx.
MU (Miniature Unit) connector
 Details of MU connector
 Manufactured By: It was developed by NTT.
 Application: It is a popular connector type in Japan. Applications include high-
speed data communications, voice networks and telecommunications. They even
support dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM). They can also be used
multiple optical connections.
 Ferrule Diameter: 1.25 mm
 Standard: IEC 61754-6
 Coupling Type: It has push/pull mechanism, but benefit is that 2 channels can fit
in the footprint of a single SC. It is with square shaped.
 Losses & Other Details: It comes in simplex as well as duplex form. It is a small
form factor SC connector. They have insertion loss of 0.25 dB and return loss >55
dB.
 Price:Rs=1100/- Approx.
SMA (Subminiature version A) Connector
 Details of SMA Connector
 Manufactured By: Amphenol Fiber Optic Products
 Application: Industrial lasers, military; telecom multimode. The SMA connector
has exceptional mechanical durability.
 Ferrule Diameter: The SMA connector holds a single fiber. The Ferrule is
traditionally made of steel, although ceramic versions are available. SMA 905 and
SMA 906 multimode connectors are available with stainless alloy or stainless steel
ferrules. The stainless alloy ferrule may be drilled from 125um to 1550um to
accept various fiber sizes.
 Coupling Type: SMA connectors use a threaded plug and socket. SMA connectors
have a threaded Coupling nut.
 Losses & Other Details: Simplex only. Multimode only. SMA connectors come in
two varieties: the SMA-905 has a straight ferrule, whereas the SMA-906 has a
stepped ferrule design SMA 906 ferrule has a step, which requires a half sleeve to
be installed when mating a SMA 906 connector with SMA 905 mating sleeves.
 Price:Rs=1379/- Approx.