PROPOSAL OF A NOVEL INTERFEROMETRIC FIBEROPTIC GYROSCOPE

A novel interferometric fiber-optic gyroscope with amplified optical f eedback by an Er-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) is proposed and theoreti cally investigated (the proposed gyro is called FE-FOG). FE-FOG functi ons like an R-FOG (resonant fiber-optic gyro) due to its multiple util ization of the Sagnac loop; however it is completely different, becaus e a low-coherence light source is used. In addition, the gyro output s ignal is pulsed because the modulation frequency of the phase modulato r placed in the Sagnac loop is selected to match the round-trip time d elay of the light. When the rotation occurs the peak position of outpu t pulse is shifted due to the Sagnac effect. The resolution of rotatio n measurement depends on the sharpness of the output pulse. Both open- loop and closed-loop methods are described in detail. (C) 1995 John Wi ley & Sons, Inc.