Abstract

Optical sensing techniques are considered as one of the most advancing and extensively investigated fields of photonics technologies. The fundamental advantages of optical sensors such as immunity to electro-magnetic interference, compact size and energy efficiency designate them to use in highly requiring applications, e.g. in harsh environment and aviation. Modern optical gyroscope systems, which are a critical part of inertial measurement units (IMU) of contemporary airplanes, drones, spacecrafts and others, are definitely one of the most impressive examples of successful implementation of photonic sensors [1]. Typically, the angular velocity is measured by utilizing the Sagnac effect occurring in rotating optical medium, which can be either an optical fiber loop or a ring laser [2]. Nowadays, commercially available gyroscopes are realized using discrete optoelectronic components, while in this work we present and discuss an interferometric fiber-optic gyroscope (IFOG) system, which uses a monolithic application specific photonic integrated circuit (ASPIC) as the readout device. The chip has been realized using the generic foundry approach [3]. We expect that application of such a compact photonic circuit will lead to reduction of the sensor weight and energy consumption with simultaneous increase of reliability of the device.

© 2017 IEEE