Overview
As we know, in fiber optic cable installation, a good connection between cables and systems allows optical signals to pass with low attenuation and little return loss that is very vital to the success of the telecommunication network. While fiber optic pigtail is one of the proven ways to join optical fibers.
What’s Fiber Optic Pigtail?
Fiber optic pigtail is a piece of cable terminated with fiber optic connectors at only one side of the cable while leave the other side no connectors (bare fiber), so that the connector side can link to the equipment (eg. fiber converter or optical transceiver module) and the other side can be melted with optical fiber. In fact, a fiber optic pigtail is similar with a fiber optic patch cord. But fiber optic patch cord is composed of a fiber optic cable terminated with connectors on both ends. Sometimes, we cut the fiber optic patch cord in the middle, stripped its jacket and then into a pigtail. Though fiber optic pigtail and patch cords are similar in structure, they have different applications when using in fiber cable installation.
Types of Fiber Optic Pigtail
Fiber optic pigtail is categorized by the connector types, fiber types and fiber counts, as well as cable jacket materials and cable structure.
Connector Types
Commonly used fiber optic pigtail types (based on connectors) are SC, FC, LC, ST, MU, E2000 and MTRJ.
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LC Fiber Optic Pigtails: LC features the low cost and high precision 1.25mm outer diameter ceramic ferrules and highly favored for single mode applications. LC fiber optic pigtail use LC connector and suit for density installations. |
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SC Fiber Optic Pigtails: SC connector is a non-optical disconnect connector with a 2.5mm pre-radiused zirconia or stainless alloy ferrule. It is light weight and economic to use in different applications such as CATV, LAN, WAN, test and measurement. SC fiber optic pigtails are also a commonly used pigtail type in cable installation. |
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ST Fiber Optic Pigtails: ST fiber optic connector is the most popular connector for multimode fiber optic LAN applications. It has a long 2.5mm diameter ferrule made of ceramic (zirconia), stainless alloy or plastic. SC fiber optic pigtails are used in telecommunications, industry, medical and sensor fields. |
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FC Fiber Optic Pigtails: FC fiber optic pigtails use the metallic body FC fiber optic connectors. FC features the screw type structure and high precision ceramic ferrules. FC fiber optic pigtails and related products are known for the general and average applications. |
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MU Fiber Optic Pigtails: MU connector is called “mini SC” as it is only half size of the SC and are more popular in Japan. Applications of MU connectors include high-speed data communications, voice networks, telecommunications, and dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM). MU fiber optic pigtails use the MU connector that inherits the features and advantages of SC connector. |
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MT-RJ Fiber Optic Pigtails: MT-RJ fiber optic pigtails use the MT-RJ connectors that are specially designed for fast Ethernet. They are all duplex types with a mini ribbon fiber inside. MT-RJ inherit the features from the MT connectors and RJ45 connectors, as its name “MT-RJ”. MT-RJ optical fiber pigtails are small form connector products that fit for density applications. |
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E2000 Fiber Optic Pigtails: E2000 connector features a spring-loaded shutter which fully protects the ferrule from dust and scratches. With 1.25mm ferrule, snap-in mechanism, it is available in single mode and multimode. E2000 fiber optic pigtails also have a wide range of applications. |
Fiber Types
Similar with fiber optic patch cords, fiber optic pigtails can also be designed in multimode and singlemode.
Multimode fiber optic pigtails use 62.5/125 micron or 50/125 micron bulk multimode fiber cable and terminated with multimode fiber optic connector at one end. General multimode fiber optic cable jacket color is usually orange. In addition, 10G multimode fiber cables (OM3 or OM4) are also available in fiber optic pigtails. The jacket color of 10G OM3 and OM4 fiber optic pigtail is usually aqua.
Fiber Counts
According to fiber counts, fiber optic pigtails can be divided into 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24 and 48 Strand fiber counts. In general, simplex is equal to 1 fiber while duplex is equal to 2 fibers. Simplex fiber optic pigtail has one fiber and one connector on its one end. Duplex fiber optic pigtail has two fibers and two connectors on its one end. Each fiber is marked “A” or “B” or different colored connector boots are used to mark polarity. Similarly, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24, 48 and more than 48 fibers fiber optic pigtails have their corresponding feature.
In addition, according to the cable jacket materials, there are PVC/LSZH fiber optic pigtail, armored fiber optic pigtail and waterproof fiber optic pigtail etc. While according to the cable structure or packaging, there are ribbon fiber optic pigtail and bunch fiber optic pigtail etc. Additionally, fan out fiber optic pigtails are multi fiber cable assemblies, usually it is made from a multi fiber count cable. Though fiber optic pigtails can be categorized by so many factors, in the practical field, we usually use the connector types as the common classification standard.
 Bunch Fiber Optic Pigtail |
 Ribbon Fiber Optic Pigtail |
 Waterproof Fiber Optic Pigtail |
 Armored Fiber Optic Pigtail |
Where is Fiber Optic Pigtail Used?
Fiber optic pigtails bridge a critical junction in the fiber-optic network. They are usually used with fiber optic management equipment like ODF (Optical Distribution Frames), splice closures and cross cabinets. In addition, a pigtail can be fusion spliced onto a pre-terminated fiber optic cable assembly to extend the cable distance or onto field-terminated cables to provide the connectorized end.
Fiberstore Fiber Optic Pigtails Solution
Fiberstore provides a wide range options of fiber pigtails, including 9/125 single-mode, 62.5/125 multimode 50/125 multimode and 10G 50/125µm OM3 types, simplex fiber, 4 fibers, 6 fibers, 8 fibers, 12 fibers, 24 fibers, 48 fibers and so on. These fiber pigtails can be with fan-out kits and fully compliant to Telcordia, EIA/TIA and IEC standards.
