Technique of reducing the Kerr effect and extending the dynamic range in a brillouin fiber optic gyroscope

A method for reducing the Kerr effect in a Brillouin fiber optic gyroscope, comprising the steps of:

• pumping said Brillouin fiber optic gyroscope with pump light from a pump source which generates light at a predetermined pump frequency;
• and
• modulating said pump light with a first predetermined waveform to generate components of said pump light at sideband pump frequencies with respect to said predetermined pump frequency, said waveform selected to provide a predetermined relationship between intensities of said pump light at each of said predetermined pump frequency and said sideband pump frequencies, said pump light at said predetermined pump frequency and at said sideband pump frequencies generating Brillouin light having Brillouin components at a first Brillouin frequency and at sideband Brillouin frequencies, said Brillouin components having intensities related to said predetermined pump frequency and said sideband pump frequencies such that said Brillouin components form periodic counterpropagating Brillouin light waves having a second predetermined waveform different from said first predetermined waveform.

A ring resonator comprising:

• a ring comprising an optical fiber;
• a pump light source coupled to said ring to pump said fiber, said pump light having sufficient intensity to generate a pair of optical signals that counterpropagate through said ring;
• at least one optical modulation system which modulates (i) said counterpropagating optical signals and (ii) said pump light, said optical modulation system modulating each of said counterpropagating optical signals with a first waveform such that the average value of the square of the intensity of the optical signal is substantially equal to twice the square of the average value of the intensity of the optical signal, said optical modulation system modulating the pump light with a second waveform different than said first waveform, the shape of said second waveform being dependent on the shape of said first waveform.

In a ring resonator comprising a loop of optical fiber and a pump light source coupled to the loop to pump the optical fiber with pump light having sufficient intensity to generate a pair of counterpropagating waves in the loop, a method, comprising:

• modulating the pair of counterpropagating light waves with a first waveform having a Fourier content which provides plural sidebands of an optical frequency of the pair of counterpropagating light waves;
• and
• modulating the pump light with a second waveform having a Fourier content which causes the pump light to pump the optical fiber with frequencies that generate optical frequencies at said plural sidebands.