Fiber Attenuator Usage

The intensity of the optical signal received by the optical receiving device needs to be within a certain range, and the optical power cannot be too strong or too weak, otherwise the device lifetime will be shortened or it will not work normally. Optical fiber attenuator is an optical passive device that can be used to reduce the power of the optical signal and attenuate the input optical power to avoid distortion of the optical receiver due to the super strong input optical power
The optical fiber attenuator reduces the optical power through the absorption, reflection, diffusion, scattering, deflection, diffraction, and dispersion of the optical signal. For example, for the absorption of optical signals, set the optical fiber attenuator to a working wavelength range that can absorb light energy. Within this range, it does not reflect light and reduces unnecessary echo reflection to achieve the purpose . Generally, fiber attenuators are used with technology such as air isolation , displacement dislocation, attenuation fiber, absorption glass method and others.
The attenuation range of the optical attenuator is 0～65dB. Among them, the attenuation power of the fixed fiber attenuators currently on the market is between 1 to 30 dB. Fixed fiber attenuator, a type of fiber attenuator, which fixes the attenuation power at an attenuation value, is used in telecommunications networks, optical fiber test equipment, local area networks (LAN) and cable television (CATV) systems.
There is also a variable optical attenuator. The attenuation level of the variable attenuator can be adjusted, for example, from 0.5 dB to 20 dB, or even 50 dB. Some variable attenuators have very delicate resolution, such as 0.1dB or even 0.01dB. Mainly used in: optical distribution frame, optical fiber network system, high-speed optical fiber transmission system, cable television (CATV) system, long-distance trunk line dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) system, optical add/drop multiplexer (OADM)
Among them, the fixed optical attenuator has pigtail type, converter type, It can be made into FC, SC, ST, LC, MU and other interface types, and it is convenient to use in daily wiring. Generally, a single optical attenuator has two interfaces, male and female, which can be male-female or female-female. The male connector interface is generally used to plug into the receiver of the device or the adapter on the adapter panel, and the female connector interface is used to connect the fiber jumper.
Among passive devices, fiber optic attenuators are widely used, second only to connectors and couplers. The performance indicators to measure the optical attenuator mainly include attenuation, insertion loss, attenuation accuracy, return loss, etc. High-performance optical attenuators have low insertion loss, and return loss is usually above 40dB.