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An optical fiber connector constitutes a fiber-to-fiber interconnection and aligns the fiber core of two optical fibers. Due to the fast development of optical nets, a variety of optical fiber connectors are available. The main difference between connectors is in the dimensions and the mechanical grip. Standard connectors are the LC (Lucent Connector or Local Connector), FC, ST (Straight Tip) and SC (believed to be an abbreviation for Subscriber Connector, or possibly Standard Connector) connectors. If the fiber end is angled to reduce back reflections this is usually described by adding APC (Angled Physical contact Connector) to the name.
FC (Ferrule Connector) has a floating ferrule that provides good mechanical isolation. However, it is screwed into contact which can induce scratches on the fiber. SC connector offers excellent packing density, and its push-pull design resists fiber end face contact damage during connection. In general the insertion loss should not exceed 0.75 dB and the return should not be higher than -20 dB. Typical insertion repeatability, the difference in insertion loss between one plugging and another, is 0.2 dB. LC FIBER CONNECTOR  SC FIBER CONNECTOR  ST FIBER CONNECTOR
Connector | Insertion Loss | Repeatability | Fiber Type | Applications |
FC
| 0.50-1.00 dB | 0.20 dB | SM, MM | Datacom, Telecommunications | 
FDDI
| 0.20-0.70 dB | 0.20 dB | SM, MM | Fiber Optic Network | 
LC
| 0.15 db (SM)
0.10 dB (MM) | 0.2 dB | SM, MM | High Density Interconnection | 
MT Array
| 0.30-1.00 dB | 0.25 dB | SM, MM | High Density Interconnection | 
SC
| 0.20-0.45 dB | 0.10 dB | SM, MM | Datacom | 
SC Duplex
| 0.20-0.45 dB | 0.10 dB | SM, MM | Datacom | 
ST
| Typ. 0.40 dB (SM)
Typ. 0.50 dB (MM) | Typ. 0.40 dB (SM)
Typ. 0.20 dB (MM) | SM, MM | Inter-/Intra-Building, Security, Navy |
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