optical fiber is a thin, cylindrical fiber made of glass or plastic, smaller than one tenth of a human hair. A standard telecom optical fiber is composed of three layers of cylindrical shape, arranged inside out as fiber core (diameter 8~10um) and cladding (diameter of 125um) as well as buffer layer (diameter 900um).
Fiber core and cladding is made of glass or silica. The fiber core and the cladding layers are used to keep the light within the core without leakage. The fiber buffer coating is constructed of plastic or acrylic and gives handling flexibility and physical protection to the fiber.
Fiber optics employ an optical phenomenon known as total internal reflection. When light is introduced into the fiber from its one end, it’s confined inside the core not leaking out and losing its energy.
Then, light is digitally modulated to represent the numbers 1 and 0 like a computer, and data can be transmitted from one site to another, which could be located from San Francisco all the way to New York.
What are fiber optic connectors and how do they work?
You now know how optical fibers operate. So what is a fiber optic connector and what is its purpose in a fiber optic telecommunication network?
Put it simple, a fiber optic connector’s job is similar to an electric power source It connects light from one segment of optical fiber with another section of optical fiber.
Since optical fibers are so tiny, fiber optic connectors have to be made with high precision, and at a size of 0.1um that is just one centimeter of a human hair.
Fiber optic connectors connect two fibers end to end so precisely that light can travel from one fiber into another without being bounced off of the interface and loss its signal.
In addition, fiber optic connectors provide cross connect flexibility to the telecommunications network. Therefore, a computer network that is complex can be modularized and simple to manage.
Similar to other connectors utilized in the electronic industry, electric industry and computer industry, numerous kinds connected to fiber optic cables were created during the evolution of the fiber optic communication. Some of them once were very popular in the industry but have now served their purpose and are becoming obsolete.
The most widely used fiber optic connectors in use today include SC, ST, LC, FC, MTRJ, Ip46976.blog-kids.com/16558908/the-best-side-of-optical-fiber (he has a good point) SMA as well as a few other less popular ones. Sure you will see new connectors developed with the progress of this industry.