Resonant fiber optic gyroscope using a reciprocal modulation and double demodulation technique

Area of Science:

• Photonics and optical sensing technologies.
• Inertial navigation systems and precision measurement.

Background:

• Resonant fiber optic gyroscopes (RFOGs) are crucial for inertial navigation.
• Key challenges include residual amplitude modulation (RAM) and backscattering noise, limiting bias stability.
• Existing techniques struggle to effectively mitigate these noise sources simultaneously.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and demonstrate a novel RFOG architecture.
• To enhance bias stability by suppressing both RAM and backscattering noise.
• To achieve high-performance inertial sensing using a single laser source.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a reciprocal modulation and double demodulation technique.
• Utilizing a single laser source for the RFOG system.
• Careful suppression of phase modulator's residual amplitude modulation (RAM).
• Elimination of backscattering noise via the double demodulation process.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated successful suppression of residual amplitude modulation (RAM).
• Achieved effective elimination of backscattering noise.
• Attained a long-term bias stability of 0.2°/h.
• Validated performance over a continuous test duration of 45 hours.

Conclusions:

• The proposed reciprocal modulation and double demodulation technique significantly enhances RFOG performance.
• This method effectively overcomes limitations imposed by RAM and backscattering noise.
• The demonstrated RFOG offers a promising solution for high-precision inertial sensing applications.