PIC: Navigation grade chip scale gyro enabled by weak value amplification

具有高灵敏度和稳定性的陀螺仪是无人机，无人驾驶飞行器（uav）和卫星中使用的导航和运动传感的重要组件，特别是作为GPS信号阻塞或不可用情况下的替代定位和导航技术。然而，最先进的技术是基于包含几公里长的光纤线轴的光纤陀螺仪或动态范围非常有限的机械陀螺仪。陀螺仪的灵敏度和稳定性必须从根本上在它的尺寸和重量之间进行权衡。随着无人驾驶飞机、无人机和卫星变得越来越小，越来越普遍，对超紧凑导航级陀螺仪的需求将变得至关重要。最先进的微型陀螺仪结构紧凑、坚固耐用，但在导航方面存在性能缺陷，阻碍了它们的使用。该项目将在一个小型手持光子芯片上提供体积光学陀螺仪的灵敏度水平，有可能改变当今的导航方式。这项提议的努力将点燃人们对科学的热情，并在高中阶段提高代表性不足人群对STEM的保留率。PI将与David T. Kearns艺术、科学和工程领导力与多样性中心合作，通过对罗切斯特市学区高中生的研究经历，激发他们对STEM职业的渴望，扩大代表性不足群体的参与。弱值放大已被证明在光学干涉仪中提供相位灵敏度优势，当比较相等的检测光功率时。弱值放大放大干涉测量的信号，而不需要放大时间相关噪声、系统噪声和其他技术噪声。然而，先前弱值放大的演示也需要复杂的实验室设置和精确的校准。本提案将发展描述光学陀螺弱值放大及其性能参数的理论。该理论还将模拟一种将激光锁定在传感腔中同时测量旋转的新技术。这种稳定策略是通过弱值方案的拒绝光来实现的，该方案包含与旋转相关的可忽略不计的信息，从而将稳定与同一腔的测量分离开来。本文的理论背景将指导本项目在高品质因子环谐振器的光子芯片上实现弱值放大。所提出的陀螺仪将满足导航级性能指标，并在最先进的基础上提高100倍。将开发用于实现弱值放大的光子结构，包括多模耦合器，可调谐高阶模式耦合器和多能级光子学，其应用范围超出了所提出的陀螺仪。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Gyroscopes with high sensitivity and stability are essential components for navigation and motion sensing used in drones, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), and satellites, especially as an alternative Positioning and Navigation technology for situations where GPS signals are jammed or unavailable. However, state-of-the-art technology is based on optical fiber gyros that contain spools of fiber several kilometers long or mechanical gyros that have very limited dynamic range. The sensitivity and stability of a gyroscope must be fundamentally traded off between its size and weight. As drones, UAVs, and satellites become smaller and more ubiquitous, the need for ultracompact navigation grade gyroscopes will become critical. State-of-the-art miniaturized gyroscopes are compact and robust but suffer from a performance deficit that hinders their use in navigation. This program will provide the sensitivity level of bulk optical gyroscopes on a small, handheld photonic chip, potentially transforming how navigation is done today. The proposed effort will ignite the passion for science and increase retention in STEM among underrepresented populations at the high school level. The PI will work with the David T. Kearns Center for Leadership and Diversity in Arts, Sciences, and Engineering to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups through research experiences for high school students from the Rochester City School District that spark their desire for a career in STEM.Weak value amplification has proven to offer a phase sensitivity advantage in optical interferometers when comparing equal detected optical power. Weak value amplification amplifies the signal of an interferometric measurement without the cost of amplifying time correlated noise, systematic noise, and other technical noises. However, previous demonstrations of weak value amplification also require complex laboratory setups with exquisite alignment. This proposal will develop the theory that describes weak value amplification in optical gyros and their performance parameters. The theory will also model a novel technique of locking the laser to the sensing cavity while simultaneously measuring rotation. This stabilization strategy is enabled by the rejected light of the weak value scheme, which contains a negligible amount of information relating to the rotation, to separate the stabilization from the measurement on the same cavity. This theoretical background will guide the experimental side of project that will implement weak value amplification on a photonic chip with a high quality factor ring resonator. The proposed gyro will meet navigation grade performance metrics and improve over state-of-the-art by one hundred fold. The photonic structures that will be developed to implement weak value amplification, including multimode couplers, tunable higher order mode couplers, and multilevel photonics, have applications beyond the proposed gyroscope.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.