LAUSR

Abstract. The laser is an important component of the resonator fiber-optic gyroscope (RFOG) and the optical noise of the laser severely limits the performance of the RFOG system. The mathematical model which presents the effect of the intensity noise on the RFOG is established. In order to verify the correctness of the model, an acousto-optic modulator is innovatively used to generate the intensity noise of the laser, through which the intensity noise could be quantitatively changed without introducing unexpected noises of the laser. The experimental results indicate the intensity noise results in the deterioration of the scale factor nonlinearity and the increase of detected rotation rate error. In addition, a scheme based on the second harmonic demodulation of the intensity-modulated signal is proposed to compensate the light intensity fluctuation of the laser in the RFOG. The test results show the drift of the gyro introduced by the light intensity fluctuation could be reduced >8  dB through this method.