OPTICAL WAVEGUIDE AMPLIFIER SOURCE GYROSCOPE

摘要

An improved Sagnac interferometer includes a broadband light source (100) that comprises a fluorescent optical medium which is pumped by light from a pump source with a sufficient intensity to cause the fluorescent optical medium to generate temporally incoherent light by superfluorescence. In the preferred embodiment, the superfluorescent optical medium comprises an optical fiber (130) which is backward pumped. The light signal input into the sensing loop (142) of the interferometer is amplified by a modulator, output from the interferometer loop (142) and amplified by the optical gain of the superfluorescent fiber which acts as a light source (100) and as an amplifier. In order to avoid gain modulation in the superfluorescent fiber (130), the modulation frequency is selected so that the modulation gain depth is substantially reduced.