Method to determine the optimal layer number for the quadrupolar fiber coil

For a high precision interferometric fiber optic gyroscope (IFOG) under temperature control, a short start-up time and small temperature drift are important for its applications. The start-up time and the temperature drift of IFOG with the same fiber length but with a different fiber coil layer number are investigated and compared. Simulation by finite difference time domain method is done to illustrate the existence of optimal layer number for the fiber coil wound by the quadrupolar method. Theoretical analysis is then provided and a closed-form formulation is given to calculate the optimal layer number of the fiber coil, which can effectively reduce both the start-up time and temperature drift of IFOG. Our study is meaningful in improving the thermal performance of the fiber coil. (C) 2014 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)