A Novel Passive Ring Resonator Gyroscope

We investigated a passive resonator based on a spiral Silica on Silicon waveguide as key element of an integrated optical gyroscope [1-2]. The structure of the resonator includes a spiral waveguide coupled to two straight waveguides. The spectral response of the resonator is analytically determined in order to illustrate its resonant properties: in particular, the analytical expressions of the power transfer function for both drop and through port configurations are derived. An evaluation of the sensitivity of an optical gyroscope based on a spiral resonator is made and ways for improving its sensitivity are also analyzed.