Acousto-Optic Gyroscope with Improved Sensitivity and 100 second Stability in a Small Form Factor

Abstract

This paper reports significant improvements made to enhance the sensitivity (9x), signal to noise ratio (13x) and stability (over 100 sec) of the Acousto-Optic Gyroscope (AOG) while simultaneously reducing device form factor by 2x. Performance enhancements were achieved by materials and device design of both acoustic and optical components. Acoustic quality factor of 4300 was measured with 24 kHz frequency mismatch between drive and sense ensuring matched mode operation while low waveguide insertion loss of 0.54dB/cm was achieved.