Mechanism of radiation effects on fiber optic gyros

The polarization-maintaining fiber coil in a fiber optic gyro (FOG) is a sensitive element, its loss will increase when it works in radiation environment such as the spatial, and the performance of FOG also degrades. The spatial radiation environment is simulated with ⁶⁰Co as the radiation source, and influences of spatial radiation on elements of fiber optic gyro especially the polarization-maintaining fiber, were researched based on lots of simulation experiments of spatial radiation. It is found the polarization-maintaining fiber suffers from the spatial radiation most seriously, and the radiation effect mechanism of polarization-maintaining fiber has been proposed. Furthermore, the radiation effect on fiber opti gyro owing to the increase of loss in polarization-maintaining fiber under radiation has been discussed, which provides theoretical foundation for radiation hardening design of fiber optic gyro.