Angled Physical Contact (APC)

A style of fiber optic connector with a 5°-15° angle on the connector tip for the minimum possible backreflection. The APC, angled physical contact, connector is best for high bandwidth applications and long haul links since it offers the lowest return loss (RL) of connectors currently available. In an APC connector, the endface of a termination is polished precisely at an 8-degree angle to the fiber cladding so that most RL is reflected into the cladding where it cannot interfere with the transmitted signal or damage the laser source. As a result, APC connectors offer a superior RL performance of -65 dB.