The Expanded Beam Performance technology is an advanced fiber optic solution. It offers high-end transmission characteristics over many mating cycles. The excellent optical performance remains unchanged even under mechanical stress, environmental influences and harsh ambient conditions.
Since there is no direct contact between the contact ends, Expanded Beam connections are relatively insensitive to contamination and can be cleaned easily. Under normal conditions, cleaning every 5000 mating cycles is sufficient. This ensures reliable transmission without damage.
| Fiber Optic | Expanded Beam Performance | Expanded Beam | Physical Contact | Polymer Optical Fiber |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contact Type | Expanded Beam | Expanded Beam | PC / APC | PC |
| Insertion loss | <0.7 dB (SM)/<0.3 dB (MM) | ≤ 1,5 dB | ≤ 0.5 dB | ≤ 1.5 dB |
| Return loss | ≥ 55dB (SM)/ ≥25dB (MM) | ≥ 32 dB (Multimode) | > 40 dB (Singlemode) / > 30 dB (Multimode) | – |
| Mating cycles(**) | 25,000 | 100,000 | 1,000 | 10,000 |
| Cleaning | Every 5,000 mating cycles (***) | Every 20,000 mating cycles(***) | Before each mating cycle(***) | No cleaning required |
| Temperature range | –40 °C to +80 °C | –40 °C bis +85 °C | –25 °C to +75 °C | –40 °C to +85 °C |
| Fiber types | Multimode 50 / 125 μm – Singlemode 9 / 125 μm | Multimode 50 / 125 μm | Multimode 50 / 125 μm – Singlemode 9 / 125 μm | 980 / 1,000 μm |
*) Contact transition only, specifics of the connector series may deviate
**) Tested under controlled conditions
***) Cleaning instructions