Abstract
The frequency resolution of an active waveguide ring resonator spectrometer is fundamentally limited by spontaneous emission noise produced by the gain medium. A closed-form expression for this resolution is derived, and the result is used to determine the minimum, rms, angular rotation rate, random walk error achievable by an active ring resonator gyroscope. An active waveguide ring resonator is demonstrated in a neodymium-doped glass, and a finesse of 250 at a signal wavelength of 1060 nm is achieved for the 1.6 cm diameter ring under laser diode pumping. This finesse corresponds to an effective propagation loss on the order of 0.013 dB/cm, which is the lowest value reported to date for rings of this size.
Highlights
Planar integrated optic ring resonators have been well-studied and find a host of applications in both telecommunications and sensing
When the application necessitates the use of a large diameter ring, as is the case for an optical gyroscope rotation rate sensor, glass becomes an ideal substrate material because it permits the fabrication of very low loss waveguides
When the neodymium gain medium is pumped by a laser diode, the finesse of the 1.6 cm diameter device increases from approximately 10 to 250 at a signal wavelength of 1060 nm, with the later finesse value corresponding to an effective propagation loss value of approximately 0.013 dB/cm
Summary
Planar integrated optic ring resonators have been well-studied and find a host of applications in both telecommunications and sensing. Our analysis shows that in the quantum limit with gain present, the spectral resolution decreases as one over the square root of the product of the finesses of the resonator measured with gain and without gain We apply this result to determine the minimum, rms, angular rotation rate, random walk error achievable by an active, ring, resonator gyroscope in the quantum limit. When the neodymium gain medium is pumped by a laser diode, the finesse of the 1.6 cm diameter device increases from approximately 10 to 250 at a signal wavelength of 1060 nm, with the later finesse value corresponding to an effective propagation loss value of approximately 0.013 dB/cm We believe that this is the lowest effective propagation loss and highest finesse reported to date for glass, waveguide, ring resonators of this size. We observe gain saturation in this ring resonator as the launched signal power is increased, and we report lasing action at sufficiently high pump powers
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