Lightwave
Connector
Care
Introduction
Lightwave
cable
interfaces
can
be
damaged
by
improper
cleaning
and
connection
procedures
.
Dirty
or
damaged
lightwave
interfaces
can
result
in
nonrepeatable
or
inaccurate
measurements
.
This
section
will
suggest
some
best
practices
to
clean,
care
for
,
connect,
and
inspect
lightwave
connectors
.
Lightwave
connectors
are
used
to
connect
two
ber
ends
together
.
These
connections
may
be
used
to
join
cables
between
optical
ports
on
devices
,
laser
sources
,
receivers
,
patch
panels
,
terminals
and
many
other
types
of
systems
or
components
.
Fiber
optic
cables
are
used
at
dierent
wavelengths
,
in
single
or
multi-mode
,
and
in
dierent
environments
.
There
are
a
variety
of
sizes
,
core/cladding
combinations
,
jackets
,
and
indexes
of
refraction.
In
general,
dierent
types
of
cables
do
not
work
well
together
.
Cables
should
match
each
other
and
the
system.
However
,
regardless
of
the
cable
type
,
the
connectors
have
only
one
function:
to
provide
a
direct
and
low-loss
optical
signal
transition
from
one
ber
end
to
another
.
When
these
connectors
are
used
in
a
measurement
system,
repeatability
becomes
an
important
factor
.
Lightwave
connectors
dier
from
electrical
or
microwave
system
connectors
.
In
a
ber
optic
system,
light
is
transmitted
through
an
extremely
small
ber
core
.
Because
ber
cores
are
often
62.5
microns
(0.0625
mm)
or
less
in
diameter
,
and
dust
particles
range
from
tenths
of
a
micron
to
several
microns
in
diameter
,
dust
and
very
minute
contamination
on
the
end
of
the
ber
core
can
degrade
the
performance
of
the
connector
interface
(where
the
two
cores
meet).
Therefore
,
the
connector
must
be
precisely
aligned
and
the
connector
interface
free
of
trapped
foreign
material.
Connector
(or
insertion)
loss
is
one
important
performance
characteristic
of
a
lightwave
connector
.
Typical
values
are
less
than
1
dB
of
loss
,
and
sometimes
as
little
as
0.1
dB
of
loss
with
high
performance
connectors
.
2-9
Summary of Contents for 11896A
Page 2: ...User Programming and Service Guide Agilent 11896A Polarization Controller ...
Page 17: ...Contents ...
Page 18: ...1 General Information ...
Page 30: ...General Information Speci cations and Characteristics 1 13 ...
Page 35: ...General Information ...
Page 36: ...2 Installation and Preparation for Use ...
Page 54: ...3 Using the Agilent 11896A Polarization Controller ...
Page 59: ...Rear Panel Features The Agilent 11896A rear panel 1 Power input 2 GPIB connector 3 6 ...
Page 65: ...Using the Agilent 11896A Polarization Controller Using the Agilent 11896A ...
Page 66: ...4 Programming ...
Page 100: ...5 Veri cation and Service Information ...
Page 121: ...Veri cation and Service Information ...
Page 122: ...A Choosing the Scan Rate and Measurement Time ...
Page 126: ...B Measurement Considerations ...
Page 131: ...Measurement Considerations ...
Page 132: ...Index ...
