Hello
everyone!
Today, I will finish explaining the troubleshooting process for dirty optical connectors. In this last article, I will talk about the optical microscope and visual inspection of optical connectors.
Optical microscope in optical networks, we can use for visual inspection a surface of optical connectors - ferrules. The main task is to check the status ferrule of the optical connector - clean, dirty and damage. But, manufacturers use the optical microscope to check the geometry of the optical connector. In the next figure, we can see different types of optical microscopes.
Figure 1. Different types of optical microscopes
The magnification of the optical microscope goes from 30 to 800 power. For working with optical connectors, the typical magnification of an optical microscope is from 100 to 400 power.
Multimode fibers require less magnification than single-mode fibers. In order to be able to see dirt, damage, and geometry with an optical microscope, light sources from different angles are used.
An optical microscope has a built-in infrared filter to remove any signal from optical fiber, and in this way, it provides eye protection.
Today, there are a large number of different modern optical microscopes for checking optical connectors. There are optical microscopes that have a display on them, other optical microscopes connect to a PC or smartphone. Both allow an analysis of the ferrule surface.
In figure 2, we can see an analysis of the surface of the ferrule. There are four zones: A – core zone, B – cladding zone, C – adhesive zone, and D – contact zone. For each zone, the failure criterion is defined - for defects and scratches (quantity, size, and location).
In Figure 2, on the left side, we can see the dirty optical connector – SM PC, there are defects, but there are no scratches. Zones B and D are dirty, while other zones are clear. The most important zones are A and B because it is core and cladding. Figure 2, on the right side, after cleaning the optical connector – there are no defects and scratches.
Figure 2. Fiber Scope Analysis
At the end of this theme, let me repeat. Dirty connectors make up 15 – 50 % of problems on optical networks. Therefore, visual inspection and cleaning optical connectors are very important.
For more information, please click:
Troubleshooting process for dirty optical connectors (1)
Troubleshooting process for dirty optical connectors (2)
Thank you!
