Dynamic Free-Spectral-Range Measurement for Fiber Resonator Based on Digital-Heterodyne Optical Phase-Locked Loop

We propose a novel scheme, based on digital-heterodyne optical phase-locked loop with whole-fiber circuit, to dynamically measure the free-spectral-range of a fiber resonator. The optical phase-locked loop is established with a differential frequency-modulation module consists of a pair of acousto-optic modulators. The resonance-tracking loop is derived with the Pound-Drever-Hall technique for locking the heterodyne frequency of the OPLL on the frequency difference between adjacent resonance modes. A stable locking accuracy of about 7 × 10?9 and a dynamic locking accuracy of about 5 × 10?8 are achieved with the FSR of 8.155 MHz, indicating a bias stability of the resonator fiber optic gyro of about 0.1?/h with 10 Hz bandwidth. In addition, the thermal drift coefficient of the FSR is measured as 0.1 Hz/?C. This shows remarkable potential for realizing advanced optical measurement systems, such as the resonant fiber optic gyro, and so on.