Historically polarization maintaining fiber requires manual alignment of five degrees of freedom to optimize coupling with the waveguide of a lithium niobate sliver used to fabricate an optical modulator. This manual process for a Y-branch modulator needs to be completed four times on the sliver with a temporary, input and two output optical fiber pigtails being installed. In this abstract we will introduce combining these four pigtail operations into single station and automating the alignment process through the novel use of several virtual pivot points surrounding two ultra-precision 6-axis actuators. Customized fixturing mounted to different areas of each actuator allows for a single station to accomplish all four unique pigtail attachment operations without having to swap out and realign tooling. The optical fiber pigtail assemblies are gripped by the fixturing on the actuators, while the lithium niobate sliver is mounted to one of two separate stationary locations surrounding the actuators, depending upon which pigtail alignment operation is being performed. Automated control software then optimizes the fiber-to-modulator waveguide alignment prior to and during the bonding of both elements. The result is a highly repeatable and efficient optical fiber pigtail attachment process with substantial cost savings.
Interferometric fiber optic gyroscopes (IFOGs) have been in production for many years and for a given size, weight and power it has demonstrated higher performance than other sensors technologies. This is due to the use of relatively long fiber optic coils with small diameter, providing high performance and small size. Several IFOG developers, including Honeywell, are using new error-reduction techniques and improved component technologies to advance the technology. A review of the reported performance advancements will be presented, as well as a discussion of IFOG long life reliability. With new component technologies that are stable performance over life, compensation techniques can be used to further improve gyro performance capability.
Progress with Interferometric Fiber Optic Gyroscopes
Interferometric fiber optic gyroscopes (IFOGs) have been in production for many years and for a given size, weight and power it has demonstrated higher performance than other sensors technologies. This is due to the use of relatively long fiber optic coils with small diameter, providing high performance and small size. Several IFOG developers, including Honeywell, are using new error-reduction techniques and improved component technologies to advance the technology. A review of the reported performance advancements will be presented, as well as a discussion of IFOG long life reliability. This is a proven technology for strategic grade gyros and has demonstrated the ability to meet strategic grade performance without compromising bandwidth or requiring boutique manufacturing processes.
Two major architectures of fiber optic gyroscopes have been under development at Honeywell in recent years. The interferometric fiber optic gyro (IFOG) has been in production and deployment for various high performance space and marine applications. Different designs, offering very low noise, ranging from better than navigation grade to ultra-precise performance have been tested and produced. The resonator fiber optic gyro (RFOG) is also under development, primarily for its attractive potential for civil navigation usage, but also because of its scalability to other performance. New techniques to address optical backscatter and laser frequency noise have been developed and demonstrated. Development of novel, enhanced RFOG architectures using hollow core fiber, silicon optical bench technology, and highly stable multifrequency laser sources are discussed.
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