Dual-Polarization Two-Port Fiber-Optic Gyroscope

This thesis demonstrates and investigates novel dual-polarization interferometric fiber-optic gyroscope (IFOG) configurations, which utilize optical compensation between two orthogonal polarizations to suppress errors caused by polarization nonreciprocity. Further, it provides a scheme for dual-polarization two-port IFOGs and details their unique benefits. Dual-polarization IFOGs break through the restriction of the “minimal scheme,” which conventional IFOGs are based on. These innovative new IFOGs have unique properties: They require no polarizer and have two ports available for signal detection. As such, they open new avenues for IFOGs to achieve lower costs and higher sensitivity.