Superluminescent Diode (SLD) Wavelength Control In High Performance Fiber Optic Gyroscopes

High performance fiber optic gyroscopes require a high degree of scale factor stability. Scale factor is directly dependent' on the wavelength of the light source, regardless of whether the fiber optic gyroscope is operated open or closed loop. The light source of choice is a broadband AlGaAs superluminescent diode (SLD). This paper describes a compact, stable, passive SLD wavelength monitoring device which can measure the mean wavelength of an SLD to an accuracy that meets stability requirements.