Tactical-grade interferometric fiber optic gyroscope based on an integrated optical chip

Abstract We present a tactical-grade interferometric fiber optic (IFOG) based on integrated optical chip (IOC). The chip comprises a light source, a photodiode , a polarizer, a double Y-junction and a phase modulator. By using a small-diameter sensing coil, and a signal-detection circuit, an IFOG based on IOC is realized. This allows for a significant reduction in the IFOG’s size, weight, power consumption and cost (SWaP-C). Preliminary performance data of a gyro prototype exhibits 0.12 deg/h bias instability over 1000 min. For the first time, to our knowledge, tactical-grade IFOG is realized based on integrated optical components except fiber coil.