What you’ll learn:
- What’s new about Corning’s Polylink connectors.
- Where plastic connectors make sense.
Connectors are typically designed to be robust and utilized multiple times with ratings that go into hundreds of cycles. That’s why all-metal connectors are the norm. Not every application requires this level of ruggedness, though, which is where Corning Gilbert plastic Polylink connectors come into play (Fig. 1). I talked with Mike Voskresensky, Senior Applications Engineer at Corning, about the new connector family (watch the video above).
The Polylink plugs and sockets are gold-plated, plastic, blind-mate interconnects that trade off durability and maximum bandwidth for lower cost (Fig. 2) compared to typical beryllium copper parts. They also weigh 30% less than conventional metal components. Polylink connectors top out at 26.5 GHz, but that’s often more than sufficient for many applications. Of course, those that require higher frequencies will need to stick with conventional connectors.
The connectors can handle rugged applications, making them suitable for automotive, aerospace, and defense applications. They feature 0.005 axial compression and maintain intermateability with standard Corning GPPO connectors. The operating temperature range is −65 to +125°C.
While 10 mating cycles may not appear to be much, it works for many applications where connections are relatively permanent or for prototyping. The lightweight connectors could be useful in applications such as drones.
