Detecting surface acoustic wave gyroscopic signal by acousto-optic coupling

A technique for surface acoustic wave (SAW) gyroscopic signal detection by acousto-optic coupling is presented in this article. The principles of the technique and the detection structure were analyzed, and experiments were conducted using the gyroscope. The static results show that the maximum coupling efficiency obtained using this technique is 80.02 when the acousto-optic interaction length is maintained at 15 mm, the SAW electrical power is 99 mW, and the SAW frequency is 168.201 MHz. When the gyroscope was rotating, a linear voltage-rotation response curve was obtained and the sensitivity was approximately 1.2 mV/deg/s.