Effects of polarization-maintaining fibre degrading on precision of fibre optic gyroscopes in radiation environment

摘要

In the space environment, the precision of fibre optic gyroscopes (FOGs) degrades because of space radiation. Photonic components of FOGs are affected by radiation, especially the polarization-maintaining (PM) fibre coil. In relation to the space radiation environment characteristic, we have carried out a series of radiation experiments on a PM fibre coil with Co-60 radiation source at different close rates. Based on the experimental results, the formula between the PM-fibre loss and radiation close rate is built, and the relation between the precision of FOG and radiation close is obtained accordingly. The results strongly show that the precision of our FOG degrades owing to the attenuation of the polarization-maintaining fibre, which provides theoretical foundation for the radiation-resistant design of the FOG.