Shupe effect in a broadband source-driven resonant fiber-optic gyroscope

The Shupe effect is a major bottleneck for engineering application of fiber-optic gyroscopes. To advance the broadband source-driven resonant fiber-optic gyroscope (RFOG) from the laboratory stage to practical applications, this paper presents a systematic analysis of its Shupe effect. A mathematical model of the Shupe effect in a broadband source-driven RFOG is derived. Finite element models of a fiber-optic ring resonator (FRR) wound in quadrupole, octupole, and 16-polar symmetric configurations are developed in COMSOL Multiphysics. Simulations are performed to analyze the thermally induced bias drift under various conditions. A strategic-level precision broadband source-driven RFOG prototype with an outer diameter of 18.2 cm and a height of 3.6 cm is developed using a 1025 m long FRR with an average diameter of 15.4 cm. The prototype achieves an angle random walk (ARW) of 1.9×10 −4 ∘ /√h, a bias stability (BS) of 1.73×10 −3 ∘ /h and a bias instability (BI) of 6.98×10 −4 ∘ /h. During temperature cycling, the prototype exhibits a maximum rotation-rate error that is of the same order of magnitude as that of an uncompensated IFOG with a comparable fiber length. Since the broadband source-driven RFOG exhibits higher accuracy for the same fiber length, this implies that it experiences a lower Shupe effect impact when achieving the same level of accuracy.