Optical Fiber Technology xxx (2012) xxxxxx

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Optical Fiber Technology

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Reduced phase error of a ber optic gyroscope using a polarization maintaining photonic crystal ber
Ningfang Song, Pan Ma , Jing Jin, Jingming Song
School of Instrument Science and Opto-electronics Engineering, Beihang University, XueYuan Road No. 37, HaiDian District, Beijing, PR China

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
We report the rst measurement of the polarization crosscoupling of a 900-m length of quadrupolarwound sensing coil for the ber optic gyroscope (FOG) using polarization maintaining photonic crystal bers (PM-PCFs). The crosscoupling is analyzed with the Optical Coherence Domain Polarimeter (OCDP). Also the polarization extinction ratio (PER) of the PM-PCF coil is measured. For comparison, a standard panda ber coil with nearly the same length is examined. The results show that PER of the PM-PCF coil is $10 dB larger than the panda ber coil, and polarization crosscoupling in the PM-PCF coil is $10 dB less than in the panda ber coil. Moreover, based on measurements, a 4-fold reduction in phase error is demonstrated numerically in a FOG made of the PM-PCF coil, compared to the same gyro operated with a similar coil of panda ber. These ndings have important benets in a higher measurement precision and stability of FOG. Crown Copyright 2012 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 16 January 2012 Revised 19 March 2012 Available online xxxx Keywords: Photonic crystal ber (PCF) Fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) Polarization crosscoupling Phase error OCDP

1. Introduction Recently, photonic crystal bers (PCFs) have attracted a great deal of interest due to their unique optical properties. They also become available with wide ranges of different fabrication designs including PM-PCFs. In a PCF, optical nonlinearity and refractive-index dependence on temperature and stress can be much weaker depending on the ber design [15]. The polarization properties of PCFs are also attractive. It is already well known that modal birefringence in PCFs can exceed 103 [6], which is one order of magnitude higher than the birefringence in conventional bers. So PCFs can nd multitudinous applications in optical interferometric systems and ber-optic sensors, including FOGs. The rst PCF FOG was reported by Kim et al. [7]. The FOG based on PM-PCFs performs higher measurement precision and insensitive to environment variations, compared to the FOG based on standard panda bers. A 6.5-fold reduction in thermal sensitivity was demonstrated experimentally in a FOG made of an air-core PCF, compared to the same gyro operated with a similar coil of conventional (SMF28) ber [8]. The rst measurements of random walk (RW) of an air-core FOG was reported [9]. However, polarization properties of the PM-PCF sensing coil for FOG were not mentioned. Axial force, twisting and elongation induced by winding the ber coil of FOG may cause the decrease of birefringence in bers [10]. PER and polarization crosscoupling of ber coils would be worsen because of those strains and stress. Polarization instability
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mapan0824@yahoo.com.cn (P. Ma).

of the ber coil would add a rotation error and also degrade the long-term drift performance of the FOG. Therefore, this paper focuses on the polarization properties of the PM-PCF sensing coil. The PER and polarization crosscoupling of the ber coil using PM-PCFs and standard panda bers are examined and analyzed by OCDP respectively. Then reduced phase error of the PM-PCF FOG is calculated based on the measurement. A brief theory is given in Section 2. Experiments are given in Section 3. Results and discussion are reported in Section 4. Finally, conclusions are drawn in the last section. 2. Theory The effect of an imperfect polarizer in a ber gyro with a broadband source and a high-birefringent ber coil with one-mode coupling center has been analyzed in [11]. In a real high-birefringent ber, mode coupling centers of unknown strength are distributed along the ber at random positions, so that a detailed description of distributed mode coupling is unrealistic. However, the statistics of the distributed mode coupling is such that it can be described by a single parameter h, where 1/h is characteristic of the ber length over which the modes become coupled. For input power I on the x axis the fraction of power coupled to the y axis after a length L is

hIy i 1 1 exp2hL I 2

where h i can denote an ensemble average over ber samples [12]. We consider a gyroscope arrangement, consisting of a SLD with an arbitrary degree of polarization, an imperfect polarizer, a ber

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Please cite this article in press as: N. Song et al., Reduced phase error of a ber optic gyroscope using a polarization maintaining photonic crystal ber, Opt. Fiber Technol. (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yofte.2012.04.002

N. Song et al. / Optical Fiber Technology xxx (2012) xxxxxx

coupler, and a ber coil. The gyro signal is taken as that intensity of light returning to the source through the polarizer. The Sagnac phase shift is 2/ and we assume an additional nonreciprocal phase shift of p/2 for propagation in the counterclockwise direction, to give output equations with maximum sensitivity at zero rotation rate. The source degree of polarization is dened

/e %

eP tan hlp p
a2

   ! DbLr DbLr hLr sin /1 sin /2 2 2

10

As the sine functions can have arbitrary arguments, the upper bound on /e is

j/e j 6

P j2a2 1j

p 2ePhlp hLr a2

11

where normalization to unity input requires a2 + b2 = 1. The result for the gyro signal returned to the source can be expressed as

3. Experiment 3.1. Fiber coil samples Two different ber coils were tested; one was made up of a 900m long PM-PCF (from Yangtze Optical Electronic CO., Ltd.), and the other of a 1100-m long panda ber (from Yangtze Optical Electronic CO., Ltd.). Each ber was wound on a 8-cm-diameter spool, using quadrupolar winding. Each layer was bonded to the one underneath it with a thin epoxy coating, and the outermost layer was also coated with epoxy. SEM photograph of the PM-PCF cross-section is shown in Fig. 1. 3.2. Experimental setup

Ip %

a 1 sin2/ /e 2

The phase bias offset in a gyro can be obtained using transfer matrix of the imperfect polarizer, the coupler and the ber coil. Transmission in our imperfect polarizer is dened by

Exp Eyp

!
trans

1 0 0

Exp Eyp

! 4
inc

where e is the amplitude extinction coefcient of an imperfect polarizer. The coupler transfer matrix is dened by

E1 E2

!
out

1 1 i p 2 i 1

E1 E2

! 5
in

The ber comprising the coil is assumed to have linear highbirefringence with resulting difference in mode propagation constant Db = bb ba and length L. Propagation in the ber is governed by the frequency dependent propagation constants ba = ba(x) and bb = bb(x). The transfer matrix of the ber loop S12 is

S 12 eibL

Saa S ab

Sab S aa

! 6

 where b ba bb =2 and Sl2 denotes propagation from end 1 to end 2. For propagation from 2 to 1, S21 is the inverse of Sl2. hl, hp and hf dene the orientation of the superluminescent diode (SLD) source, polarizer transmission axis and ber birefringence axes of the coupler input, respectively. The phase error /e is [11]

/e %

eP tan hlp
a2

2 Im Sab ReSaa cos 2hpf ReSab sin 2hpf

where hlp = hl hp, hpf = hp hf. In Eq. (7) it is assumed hl % hp, i.e., hlp is small. In a depolarization length Lr of high-birefringent ber, this coup pled eld at the end of the section may be expressed hLr ei/ , where the phase / is unknown. For coupling centers within depolarization length of each end of the ber, it is assumed that a coherence function c = 1 over each of those regions, c = 0 over the rest of the ber, and hLr ( 1. The power transfer that occurs due to mode coupling over the ber is neglected. The transfer matrix for the depolarization length is given by [13]:

PER and polarization crosscoupling of PM-PCF coil and panda ber coil were measured at room temperature. The measurement was carried out using the OCDP. The experimental setup was shown in Fig. 2. OCDP is basically a white light interferometer and has been found to be very powerful to test polarization coupling in FOG. It can measure the distribution of the cross-coupling based on the length of the ber loop. For an OCDP scan on a PMF sample, the y-axis is the crosscoupling intensity at points in a ber coil. The scale of the x-axis (path length) is obtained by dividing the path unbalance of the interferometer by birefringence Dn, to have a direct reading of the location into the ber [14]. To nd out the axis of polarization of ber coil sample, the ber coil was connected to a polarization extinction ratio (PER) meter (Santec PEM-320). The broadband source 1550 SLD in the system was used, with the mean wavelength of 1500 nm and spectral width of 45 nm. By changing angles of the polarizer, we aligned the axis of polarizer to make the extinction ratio maximum by using the PER meter. Then the measurement condition was set as follows: Scan length of motion stage was 200 mm, moving speed of motion stage was 6.00 mm/s, and sampling rate was 100000.00. The OCDP system consists of optical signal processor that is an interferometer on optical table, and data analyzer with equipments

" SLr eibL



eiDb=2Lr p hLr ei/

# p hLr ei/ eiDb=2Lr

Using Eq. (8) at each end of the ber and a propagation matrix from z = Lr to z = L Lr, the ber transfer matrix for propagation from 1 to 2 is obtained, which has coefcients:

S ab eiDb=2L S ab p hLr ei/1 eiDb=2LLr ei/2 eiDb=2LLr

9a 9b

/1 and /2 are the additional phases due to mode coupling at the ends of the ber. We substitute Eq. (9) into Eq. (7) to obtain the phase error /e:

Fig. 1. SEM image of the PM-PCF.

Please cite this article in press as: N. Song et al., Reduced phase error of a ber optic gyroscope using a polarization maintaining photonic crystal ber, Opt. Fiber Technol. (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yofte.2012.04.002

N. Song et al. / Optical Fiber Technology xxx (2012) xxxxxx

White light interferometer PZT Transducer

Broadband Light Source

Pol

Fiber coil Sample

Beam Splitter

Moving Stage 450 Analyzer

PD

Signal Processing
Fig. 2. OCDP used to measure the polarization crosscoupling of ber coil samples.

Coupling Intensity (dB)

for PD signal processing. The data analyzer controls the entire system through GPIB and Serial interface, and acquires signal by the NI USB DAQ6016. OCDP software is FIBERPRO, OCDP, v1.00.

-30 -40 -50 -60 -70 -80 -90 -100 -110 -120 -130 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
-65dB fiber center fiber end

4. Results and discussion 4.1. PER of ber coil samples PER is a important parameter to describe polarization maintaining capability of bers. Table 1 summarizes the PER of the PM-PCF and panda ber before and after winding sensing coils at room temperature. PER of both the PM-PCF and PM-PCF coil are larger than panda ber. PER of the PM-PCF coil is $10 dB larger than the panda ber coil, which indicates that polarization maintaining capability of the PM-PCF coil is better than panda ber coil. The deterioration of PER is due to the twisting, elongation and other external forces induced during winding ber coils. However, the decline of PER for the PMPCF coil is less than that for the panda ber coil. It can be found from the normalized variety of PER for these two ber coils. The aggravation of PER for the PM-PCF coil, 14.3%, is nearly three times less than the panda ber coil. The polarization maintaining capability of PM-PCFs is insensitive to external forces. 4.2. Polarization crosscoupling of ber coil samples One of the major error terms in the ber optic gyro is the polarization crosscoupling in the components. Polarization crosscouplings of these two ber coils using the OCDP are shown in Fig. 3. The instrument noise level is about 75 dB.

Path Length (mm)

(a) PM-PCF coil

-30 -40 -50 -60 -70 -80 -90 -100 -110 -120 -130 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
-53dB fiber center -58dB fiber end

Coupling Intensity (dB)

Path Length (mm)

(b) panda fiber coil

Fig. 3. Polarization crosscoupling in ber coil samples.

Table 1 PER of bers and ber coil samples. PM-PCF PER of the ber (dB) PER of the ber coil (dB) Normalized variety of PER 33.5 28.8 14.3% Panda ber 27.6 17.3 37.32%

The global polarization crosscoupling of the PM-PCF coil is about 65 dB, and the panda ber coil is about 55 dB. Crosscoupling intensity in the PM-PCF coil is $10 dB less than in the panda ber coil. For the panda ber coil, crosscoupling intensity in the left (reference to the ber center) is larger than the right, about 5 dB (see Fig. 3b). However, crosscoupling in the PM-PCF coil is more symmetrical. Moreover, peaks of crosscoupling in the PM-PCF coil are less, and peak values are smaller than in the panda coil. It is

Please cite this article in press as: N. Song et al., Reduced phase error of a ber optic gyroscope using a polarization maintaining photonic crystal ber, Opt. Fiber Technol. (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yofte.2012.04.002

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indicated that, in the PM-PCF coil, the number of coupling points is few, and the coupling intensity is low. 4.3. Phase error of the PM-PCF FOG Measurement results show that both the polarization maintaining capability and crosscoupling of the PM-PCF coil are outstanding, and polarization properties of PM-PCFs are insensitive to environment. The stabilization of polarization properties for the PM-PCF coil would reduce the phase error of FOG. Eq. (11) demonstrates the advantage of the use of the PM-PCF in FOG. At the same condition, FOGs using the PM-PCF and panda ber have the same values of parameters in Eq. (11), except for the parameter h. Based on our measurements of polarization crosscoupling for these two ber coil samples by OCDP, values of h for PM-PCF coil and panda ber coil are about 65 dB and 55 dB, corresponding to a coupling point of 3.16 107 m1 and 3.16 106 m1 in power, respectively. Assuming typical values of Lr $ 101 m, e2 $ 103, P $ 0.2, and hlp $ 10 deg, a 4-fold reduction in phase error is obtained in a FOG made of the PM-PCF coil, compared to the same gyro operated with a similar coil of panda ber. Therefore, using of the PM-PCF can reduce the phase error, thus to reduce zero-point drift and improve the performance of gyroscopes. 5. Conclusion An experimental analysis of polarization properties for the PMPCF coil was investigated by OCDP. Compared with the panda ber coil, PER of the PM-PCF coil is $10 dB larger, and polarization crosscoupling in the PM-PCF coil is $10 dB less. In addition, a 4fold reduction in phase error was demonstrated by calculation in a FOG made of the PM-PCF coil, compared to the same gyro operated with a similar coil of panda ber. These show that PM-PCFs are of better polarization maintaining capability, and insensitive to environment. Therefore, PM-PCFs are valuable candidates in

polarization maintaining applications, especially in the ber optic gyroscope. References

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Please cite this article in press as: N. Song et al., Reduced phase error of a ber optic gyroscope using a polarization maintaining photonic crystal ber, Opt. Fiber Technol. (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yofte.2012.04.002