PZT optical fiber phase modulator testing with varying amplitude modulation

Real-time measurement of the modulation factor of the PZT optical fiber phase modulator is carried out based on the method that the PZT modulator is taken as an arm of the optical fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer and modulated by a sinusoid with linearly varied amplitude. Theoretical analysis shows that this method can be realized easily with high precision and adaptable to other types of optical phase modulators. Based on this method, the characteristic curves of K_p-f_m, Φ_m-V_m and the stability of the PZT modulator used in fiber optic gyroscopes are obtained. The results are in good agreement with the theoretical analysis.