Heterogeneous Integration Photonic Engine Chips: Toward Miniaturized and High-Precision Optical Gyroscopes

As the demand for high-performance, miniaturized, and low-power devices continues to rise in integrated inertial navigation systems, chip-scale optical gyroscopes have become a central focus for the next generation of navigation sensors. This paper presents an innovative photonic engine chip based on heterogeneous integration technology, successfully implemented in an interferometric optical gyroscope (IFOG) system. The chip achieves high integration of key components—including the light source, coupler, modulator, polarization beam splitter, and photodetector—by combining silicon nitride (SiN) and thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) materials through heterogeneous integration. This approach effectively overcomes the performance limitations inherent in traditional single-material platforms. The chip measures just 2.2mm × 10mm and, after system-level packaging, is seamlessly integrated into the gyroscope system. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system achieves a bias stability of 0.38°/h, significantly outperforming previously reported comparable technologies and highlighting its strong potential for high-precision inertial sensing applications. This technology not only effectively reduces system size and power consumption but also provides excellent compatibility with CMOS processes and scalability, meeting the rigorous integration and stability requirements of high-precision optical inertial navigation systems. Furthermore, it showcases the feasibility of heterogeneous photonic integration technology in the realm of high-precision inertial sensors, establishing a strong foundation for the realization of true chip-level navigation systems.