Miniature Integrated Optic Chip for Inertial Navigation

The objective of this work is to develop a new class of highly reliable, low cost, miniature, fiber pigtailed integrated optic chips for inertial navigation applications. The traditional lithium niobate based integrated optic chip fabrication requires waveguide end-face polish and precision fiber alignment, which are labor intensive and time consuming. These processes are inevitably associated with lithium niobate material selected for integrated optic chip fabrication. TACAN Corporation is proposing a fundamental change to develop a new class of low-cost integrated optic chip based on the nonlinear optical polymer materials. With this novel approach, the optical waveguide is defined in a nonlinear optical polymer thin film integrated with the modulation electrodes. Fiber pigtailing is greatly simplified by using predefined V-grooves on the silicon wafer for the lateral alignment, and the vertical alignment is provided by the careful controlling V-groove width and thin film thickness. The elimination of both fiber alignment and edge polishing processes result in a significant cost reduction and greatly simplified production. In addition, the silicon substrate will facilitate future integration of the driving electronics and photodetectors to form a fully integrated fiber-optic gyroscope module. Preliminary chip designs and device demonstration will be provided during Phase I. The successful development of the nonlinear optical polymer devices will eventually lead to a significant cost reduction and performance enhancement for integrated optic chips. These devices can be used for both military guidance and commercial navigation applications.