The polished surface at the front of the ferrule, with the fiber core at its center. Inspection standards divide it into zones, core, cladding, adhesive and contact, and set limits on scratches, pits and debris in each. It is inspected with a 200x or 400x video probe, and a single dust particle over a singlemode core can block more light than the whole cable loss.
End face on port 12 has a pit right in the core zone, cleaning won't fix that one, it needs a new connector.
Also heard as
- endface
- ferrule end face
Related terms
Ferrule
The precision ceramic or metal cylinder in a connector that holds the fiber and lines it up with its mate.
Inspect before you connect
The fiber tech's rule that every connector end face gets scoped, and cleaned if needed, before it is mated.
Click cleaner
A pen-shaped one-click connector cleaner that wipes a fresh strip of cleaning tape across the end face.
APC
Angled Physical Contact: a singlemode connector polish with an 8 degree angle that sends reflections into the cladding.
UPC
Ultra Physical Contact: a domed singlemode connector polish with no angle, color-coded blue.