Coupled resonator optical waveguide sensors: sensitivity and the role of slow light

Matthew A. Terrel; Michel J. F. Digonnet; Shanhui Fan

doi:10.1117/12.833477

27 April 2009 Coupled resonator optical waveguide sensors: sensitivity and the role of slow light

Matthew A. Terrel, Michel J. F. Digonnet, Shanhui Fan

Proceedings Volume 7316, Fiber Optic Sensors and Applications VI; 73160I (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.833477
Event: SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing, 2009, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

We compare the sensitivity of two configurations of coupled resonator optical waveguide (CROW) gyroscopes proposed by others to conventional optical gyroscopes. In both cases, we demonstrate that for equal device footprint and loss, neither of these CROW gyroscopes configurations is more sensitive than its conventional counterpart. In all cases, loss ultimately limits the maximum rotation sensitivity. The fact that light travels more slowly (i.e., with a greater group delay) in a CROW than in a fiber therefore has no effect on sensitivity. The only benefit slow light does have is that it reduces the device length requirement, or equivalently it increases the sensitivity per unit length. However, we show that this improvement is quantitatively the same as in an RFOG. These conclusions are not limited to these two CROW configurations or to rotation sensing, but applicable to any measurand that modifies the phase of the signal(s) traveling in the resonators.

Citation Download Citation

Matthew A. Terrel, Michel J. F. Digonnet, and Shanhui Fan "Coupled resonator optical waveguide sensors: sensitivity and the role of slow light", Proc. SPIE 7316, Fiber Optic Sensors and Applications VI, 73160I (27 April 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.833477

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