Configuration to double I-FOG output power: Experimental investigation of noise performance and temperature effect

We propose a novel interferometric fiber-optic gyroscope (I-FOG) which has an improved signal to noise ratio in rotation measurement. The basic idea of this I-FOG is to use an additional polarization so that all the optical power from the light source can be utilized. The performance of this fiber gyro is experimentally examined, which shows that the noise level of rotation rate is almost half lower than that of a conventional I-FOG. In addition, the temperature effects on rotation measurement are also investigated. It shows that in the optimal case of 90/spl deg/ alignment between two polarizer axes the long-term drift of this fiber gyro can be greatly suppressed, and the drift can be suppressed to a comparable level as that of the conventional I-FOG only if the polarization properties of the fiber, coupler and polarizers are improved beyond those normally achieved.