Title :
Measurements of fundamental thermal induced phase fluctuations in the fiber of a Sagnac interferometer
Author :
Knudsen, S. ; Tveten, A.B. ; Dandridge, A.
Author_Institution :
Div. of Opt. Sci., Naval Res. Lab., Washington, DC, USA
Abstract :
We demonstrate measurements of fundamental thermal induced phase fluctuations in the fiber-loop of a Sagnac interferometer. Loop lengths of 1.1 and 2.2 km are considered, showing phase noise levels between /spl sim/0.2-1.4 μrad rms//spl radic/(Hz) in the frequency range 1-100 kHz. Good agreement between theory and experiment is demonstrated. We show that the frequency dependent noise floor can have a considerable impact on threshold detection´s for a Sagnac based sensor for detection of reciprocal measurands, as well as on the random walk coefficient in fiber optic gyroscopes.
Keywords :
fibre optic sensors; gyroscopes; light interferometers; noise measurement; optical noise; optical variables measurement; phase noise; 1 to 100 kHz; 1.1 km; 2.2 km; Sagnac based sensor; Sagnac interferometer; fiber; fiber optic gyroscopes; fiber-loop; frequency dependent noise floor; fundamental thermal induced phase fluctuations; phase noise levels; random walk coefficient; reciprocal measurands; threshold detection; Fluctuations; Frequency dependence; Frequency measurement; Optical fiber sensors; Optical fiber theory; Optical noise; Optical sensors; Phase measurement; Phase noise; Sagnac interferometers;
Journal_Title :
Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE
