Optical gyroscope based on mode splitting in a three-turn microfiber coil resonator

Abstract

A scheme for angular velocity measurement based on the mode splitting effect in a three-turn microfiber coil resonator is proposed, which employs a self-reference sensing approach to effectively minimize noise caused by ambient fluctuations. The fundamental theoretical model of mode splitting in a three-turn microfiber coil resonator is presented, along with the angular velocity sensing scheme developed based on this model. The excitation conditions for inducing the mode splitting effect are deduced, and the relationship between the characteristics of the split modes and the loss and coupling states is analyzed. The influence of the microfiber coil resonator characteristic parameters, including attenuation factor, the microfiber radius, the microfiber coil resonator radius, pitch, coupling strength, and the probe wavelength, on the fabrication of a three-turn microfiber coil resonator optical gyroscope and the scale factor are discussed comprehensively. While ensuring that the radius of the microfiber coil resonator is large enough to satisfy the coupling conditions for excitation mode splitting, it is necessary to make trade-offs among these parameters for different application requirements. Utilizing a large-radius microfiber coil resonator and operating it in a strong coupling regime will be conducive to improve the scale factor by making the splitting modes more responsive to the coupled state. For a given radius of microfiber coil resonator, the probe wavelength should be chosen according to the microfiber radius to maximize the scaling factor.