Reduced Thermal Sensitivity of a Fiber-Optic Gyroscope Using an Air-Core Photonic-Bandgap Fiber

A 6.5-fold reduction in thermal sensitivity is demonstrated experimentally in a fiber-optic gyroscope made of a 235-m length of quadrupolar-wound air-core fiber, compared to the same gyro operated with a similar coil of conventional (SMF28) fiber. This result is in good agreement with the theoretical value of 6.6 and the value of 7.5 expected from independent thermal measurements carried out on short pieces of the same fibers