To extend the service life of a latch of a plug housing and facilitate assembly and aligning operations of an optical connector. , is formed of a large, flexible sheet whose upper edge is temporarily secured to the lower edge of a conventional garage door when the door is lowered. The compliant support can be configured in a variety of geometries including compression, tension, sheer and diaphragm and of a variety of materials including elastomers, aerogels or other long chained polymers. The impurity dopants are selected from the elements in groups IE, IV, and V, in particular among boron, aluminium, indium, arsenic, phosphorous, antimony, germanium, carbon and tin.