An erbium-fiber-based sensitivity booster used by a fiber-optic gyroscope

Summary form only given. For an open-loop interferometric fiber-optic gyroscope, its dynamic range is severely limited within the rate equivalent of Π phase shift. This constraint arises from using fixed-fiber length, loop diameter, and wavelength of the circulating light. In this project, a technique has been developed to overcome the dynamic range limitation without the use of electronics feedback and control. An open-loop interferometric fiber-optic gyro was converted into a re-entrant version with tunable sensitivity. The operation principle is based on using a short sensing coil to cater for high rotation rate measurements, while the sensitivity booster is made operable to increase the gyroscope sensitivity for enhanced detection for low rotation rate measurements.