Silicon Photonics Inertial Navigation Systems (SPINS)

开发基于微型、轻型光子集成电路（PIC）的惯性导航系统，该系统与各行业相关，包括移动电子和自动驾驶汽车，特别是在航空航天、国防和汽车领域。这需要重量轻、功耗低的系统，具有高度精确的位置和（角）速度测定。关键组件是陀螺仪（和加速度计），用于确定旋转速率（运动），由MEMS或全光学组件实现。后者具有速度快、抗电磁干扰和抗机械振动能力强等优点。目前的实现，如光纤或环形激光陀螺仪的工作原理是Sagnac效应，它产生可测量的干涉（或模式分裂），在一个封闭的系统中，进行旋转或加速的反传播光信号。它们通常由相当笨重、离散的光电元件构成，所有这些都增加了系统的体积和重量。由于CMOS制造工艺的成熟，硅光子学是这些系统集成和小型化的理想候选者，这使得低成本器件具有极小的占地面积和低重量。该项目将涉及一个完全集成的PIC封装的设计、制造和表征/概念演示，包括一个微型III-V激光耦合到硅光子“引擎”（基于波导的Sagnac环路和光电探测器）。

Development of miniature, lightweight photonic integrated circuit (PIC) based inertial navigation systems with relevance across industry sectors, including mobile electronics and autonomous vehicles, especially in aerospace, defence, and automobiles. These require lightweight, low-power systems with highly accurate determination of position and (angular) velocity. Key components are gyroscopes (and accelerometers) for determining rotation rate (motion), implemented with MEMS or all-optical components. The latter have the advantage of being fast, with better immunity to EM interference and mechanical vibration. Current implementations, such as the fiber-optic or ring-laser gyroscopes work on the principal of the Sagnac effect, which yields measurable interference (or mode splitting), for counter-propagating optical signals in a closed-system, undergoing rotation or acceleration. These are typically constructed from rather bulky, discrete optoelectronic components, all of which adds volume and weight to systems. Silicon photonics is an ideal candidate for the integration and miniaturization of these systems, owing to maturity of the CMOS fabrication process, which enables low-cost devices with extremely small footprints and low weight. This project will involve design, fabrication, and characterisation/concept demonstration of a fully integrated PIC package, comprising of a miniature III-V laser coupled to a silicon photonics 'engine' (waveguide-based Sagnac loop and photodetector).