Reduced Half-Wave Voltage in Integrated Optical Circuits for Interferometric Fiber Optic Gyroscopes

Northstar Photonics proposes to mitigate substantially the risk of fabricating phase modulators in thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) that deliver performance suitable for fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) applications. During the base period we propose two design-of-experiments (DOE) efforts. One DOE will evaluate the effects of narrower electrode gaps on key FOG performance criteria such as Residual Intensity Modulation and Frequency Response.Ā The other DOE will evaluate methods for fabricating waveguides in TFLN. During the option period we propose to combine the results of the two DOEs in the base period and fabricate a phase modulator in TFLN.Ā The phase modulator will be evaluated for performance against FOG criteria.