A new type of fiber optic connector designed for military optical backplanes

A new type of fiber-optic connector designed to meet military stress requirements has been demonstrated. This reliable optical card-edge (ROC) connector is a multifiber backplane connector (four fiber, blind mate). The connector uses a unique, expanded beam coupling design and micromachined silicon optical subassemblies to provide optimum coupling under high levels of shock and vibration. An additional feature of the ROC connector is its ability to self-seal or shield the optical fiber ends when unmated, protecting the fibers and internal mechanisms from environmental contamination and abusive handling. The authors discuss the design features of the ROC connector with respect to military stress requirements, and present the prototype test results. Based on the test results, it is concluded that the ROC connector can provide a nominal insertion loss of 0.75 dB with a standard deviation of 0.2 dB. The connector provides superb repeatability (standard deviation of 0,1 dB), and shows no evidence of degradation for the nearly 500 insertions and extractions measured (with no cleaning)