SiO2 Waveguide Resonator Used in an Integrated Optical Gyroscope

An integrated optical waveguide resonator based on a SiO₂ waveguide is proposed, fabricated and tested. The method of designing the resonator is also presented. The optimal splitting ratio of the coupler is gained by simulating the relationship between the splitting ratio of the key coupler in the resonator and the resonator's finesse with resonance depth. The calculated fundamental detection limit of this integrated optical waveguide resonator is 1.6°/h. Finally, a micro-optical gyroscope system based on the integrated waveguide resonator is built, and the measured resonator's finesse F is close to 70 under fluctuating temperature. To the best of our knowledge, the present F is the best result to date. For the coupler splitting rate the experimental results have fixed errors with the simulation results caused by fabrication processes which can be easily eliminated, implying that the method of design is effective and applicable.