Imperfect joints can cause problems like excessive insertion loss. The tolernances depend a lot on the fiber type. In any case, it is essential that the fiber endfaces are carefully prepared before joining them. In many cases, fiber ends with perpendicularly cut surfaces are. To be able to judge whether a fiber optic cable plant is good, one does a insertion loss test with a light source and power meter and compares that to an estimate of what is a reasonable loss for that cable plant. Common connector types are named FC, SC and LC for single-mode applications and ST for multimode, but there are also dozens of other types, with special qualities such as duplex connections, particularly small. This document discusses optical losses associated with fiber optic joints. Such losses are particularly critical at high-speed transmission. In this article, we will discuss some methods to reduce the joint loss when single-mode optical fiber jump is melted.
[PDF Version]