Sensitivity improvement of the closed-loop resonant fiber-optic gyroscope interrogated with a broadband source

Abstract

The resonant fiber-optic gyroscope (RFOG), interrogated with a broadband light source, represents an intriguing optical gyroscope that has been proposed as an extension of the traditional RFOG, which is driven by a narrow linewidth laser source. The implementation of a closed-loop detection system enhances the linearity and dynamic range of the gyroscope output. This paper is devoted to improving the sensitivity of the closed-loop broadband source-driven RFOG. First, a model for analysis and optimization of the feedback loop gain of a closed-loop broadband source-driven resonant fiber-optic gyroscope (RFOG) is developed, and the feedback loop gain is optimized. The experimental results indicate that the influence of the feedback loop noise on the gyro performance can be neglected. Subsequently, the noise contributions, including the shot noise, detector noise, and relative intensity noise, in the broadband source-driven RFOG system are investigated. A theoretical derivation and experimental verification of an expression for the reduction of the relative intensity noise by a fiber-optic ring resonator are presented. Finally, a packaged broadband source-driven RFOG prototype using a 175 m long fiber coil with an average diameter of 5.7 cm was constructed and evaluated. The experimental results demonstrate that the prototype achieves navigation-grade precision with an angular random walk of 0.003∘/h1/2 and a bias instability of 0.005°/h.