3M signed Rosenberger OSI and Molex as its first partners in its Expanded Beam Optical (EBO) Connector ecosystem. These companies intend to manufacture and sell expanded beam optical solutions based on the 3M Expanded Beam Optical Connector System, including optical patch cords using this technology.
“The addition of these trusted and experienced assembly solution collaborators to the ecosystem will accelerate our ability to serve data center customers with the experience they need and expect,” states Kris Aman, global marketing manager at 3M. “Our collaboration with Rosenberger OSI and Molex will help us continue to develop and expand this exciting technology to enable next-generation data center optical connectivity.”
Rosenberger OSI and Molex are the first assembly solution collaborators to join 3M’s ecosystem. The ecosystem already includes inspection tool collaborators, EXFO and Sumix, who are developing adapters for their tools, inspection images and pass or fail criteria for 3M connectors.
3M intros Expanded Beam Ferrule and Connector System
“We’ve reimagined fiber optic connectors,” said Nick Stacey, Ph.D., global laboratory manager at 3M. “Our ferrule and connector technology is designed to reduce cleaning requirements, to provide design flexibility and to enable the performance necessary for next-generation optical deployment.”The 3M Expanded Beam Optical Ferrule uses a non-contact optical coupling in contrast to the more traditional physical contact methods. Together with the connector design, this helps to provide reduced sensitivity to dust, helping maintain signal integrity, and reducing the need for, and cost of, maintenance and cleaning.
It is available in single mode (1310 nm) and multimode (850 nm) versions. In single mode, insertion loss specification is <0 .70="" and="" db="" is="" loss="" return="">55 dB. In multimode, insertion loss specification is <0 .30="" and="" db="" is="" loss="" return="">25 dB. The configurable and scalable connector design can accommodate anywhere from 12 fibers to 192 fibers. The simple, but robust hermaphroditic component geometry design, with low part count, can be mated and re-mated reliably with a simple LC-style latch. The performance enables architects and engineers to deploy the technology in multilink data center applications.
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