Apparatus and method for reducing phase errors in an interferometer

Abstract

A fiber optic rotation sensor comprises a fiber optic interferometer loop formed from a highly birefringent optical fiber, and a short coherence length source for introducing light into the inteferometer loop to provide a pair of waves which counter-propogate therethrough. A detector is included to detect the phase difference between the waves after they have traversed the loop to provide an indication of the loop rotation rate, in accordance with the Sagnac effect. Phase errors are reduced by selecting the coherence length of the source and the birefringence of the fiber, so that the loop is comprised of plural fiber coherence lengths. The term 'fiber coherence length' should be distinguished from source coherence length. Fiber coherence length is the length of fiber required for the optical path length difference between the two polarization modes of a single mode fiber to equal one coherence length of the light source. In addition, phase errors are reduced by providing a birefringent waveguide between the source and the loop such that light propagates from the source to the loop in an optical path having a path length difference which is at least equal to a coherence length of the source. Phase errors are further reduced by positioning the detector to intercept the optical output signal from the loop such that light wave components in orthogonal modes are spatially averaged.