Packaged Optical Circuit for Interferometric Optical Fiber Gyroscopes

Freedom Photonics proposes the development, demonstration, and commercialization of a robust and hardened butterfly-packaged optical circuit for interferometric optical fiber gyroscopes.  Interferometric fiber optic gyroscopes (IFOGs) are used as high precision inertial sensors for guidance applications in numerous DoD applications.  All components of the IFOG module, including the source, fiber optic coil, and optical detection circuit, must be highly robust and environmentally hardened for mechanical shock, vibration, extreme temperature, and radiation exposure.  In this program, Freedom Photonics will leverage our existing space-qualified and highly robust fiber-coupled 14-pin butterfly photonics package by adapting it for use in this application.  The design will include single-mode polarization-maintaining input and output fibers, dual photodetectors, and the necessary optical components and electrical circuitry.