New ring resonator gyroscope utilizing a double cavity and a low coherence length source

A novel configuration for an all fiber ring resonator gyroscope utilizing a double cavity and a short coherence length light source is presented here. The gyroscope can achieve a higher finesse than a Sagnac interferometer which results in higher sensitivity as a result of multiple path interferences. The sensitivity can be increased further by the insertion of an optical amplifier which compensates for attenuation in the fiber ring. The proposed instrument makes use of fewer components than other low coherence length, high finesse gyroscopes based on a combination of the Sagnac interferometer and ring resonator. Simple phase tracking techniques can be used to determine the rotation rate. A light emitting diode is used as light source in order to reduce noise that results from coherent Rayleigh back scattering, the Kerr effect and DC phase bias shifts. The proposed gyroscope can be made polarization insensitive by employing a Faraday rotator mirror.