Optic fiber is a thin cylindrical fiber that is made of glass or plasticthat is as tiny as one tenth of a human hair. A typical optical fiber for telecom is composed of three cylindrical layers, counted inside out: fiber core (diameter 810um), the cladding (diameter 130um) along with buffer coating (diameter 900um).
Fiber core and cladding are made from glass or silica. Fiber Core and Cladding layers work together to confine the light within the core and prevent it from leakage. The fiber buffer coating is constructed of plastic or acrylic and gives handling flexibility and physical protection for the fiber.
Fiber optics employ an optical phenomenon known as total internal reflection. When light is in the fiber from the end face, it is contained within the core, not leaking out and losing energy.
Then light is digitally modulated to indicate the numbers 1 and 0 like a computer, and data can be transmitted from one location to another one, which could be located from San Francisco all the way to New York.
What are fiber optic connectors ? And what do they do?
Now you understand the way optical fibers function. So what exactly is the fiber optic connector? And what is its purpose in the fiber optic telecommunications network?
In simple terms, a fiber optic connector’s purpose is just like an electric power source, it relies on light to transmit from one segment that is optical to another section of optical fiber.
Because optical fibers are small, fiber optic connectors have to be constructed with high precision, with a size of 0.1um which is one hundredth of a human hair.
Fiber optic connectors connect two fibers from one end to the other so precisely that light can be transferred from one fiber to another without being bounced off of the interface , and thus losing its signal.
Besides fiber optic connectors, they provide cross-connect flexibility to the telecommunications network. So a complicated computer network can be modularized and simple to manage.
Just like any other connectors used in electronic industry, electric industry, and مندوب الياف بصرية stc computer industry, numerous kinds and types of connectors for fiber optics were invented along the development of fiber optic communications. Certain of them were highly popular in the market but they have since served their purposes and are fading away.
The most popular fiber optic connectors that are used today include SC, ST, LC, FC, MTRJ, SMA and a few of lesser-known ones. You will surely see new connectors being developed as a result of the development of the industry.