Effects of degree of polarization of SLD on the performance of fiber optic gyroscope

How to reduce the polarization noise of fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) and improve the stability of bias drift are significant for FOG performance evaluation and system structure improvement. The research objective of this article is to analyze the effects of degree of polarization (DOP) of Super Luminescent Diode (SLD) on the performance of FOG. Based on Jones matrix, the effect of the structural parameters of Lyot depolarizer on the depolarization of source SLD was analyzed. The modeling of structural parameters of Lyot depolarizer was accomplished, and the same time, the existence of the optimum structural parameters of Lyot depolarizer applied in FOG was shown. The computer simulation and experiments verification were carried out. The relationship between the structural parameters of Lyot depolarizer and the performance of FOG was in building for the first time. In addition, the above conclusions have been verified experimentally. The results indicate that the polarization noise of FOG can be reduced and its stability of bias drift can be improved by decreasing DOP of SLD with fiber depolarizers.