Extrinsic loss

When describing a fiber-optic connection, the portion of loss that is not intrinsic to the fiber but is related to imperfect joining, which may be caused by the connector or splice, as opposed to conditions in the optical fiber itself. The conditions causing this type of loss are referred to as extrinsic factors. These factors are defects and imperfections that cause the loss to exceed the theoretical minimum loss due to the fiber itself (which is called intrinsic loss).