Analysis of coupled resonator optical waveguide gyroscope based on periodically modulated coupling and circumferences

•A new modulation scheme for coupled resonator optical waveguide (CROW) gyroscope is proposed.•The problem of two common modulation methods are solved.•The sensitivity of our gyroscope has been improved approximately 10–88%.

Based on periodically modulated coupling and circumferences, we developed a new structure for coupled resonator optical waveguide (CROW) gyroscopes. Its sensitivity and resolution were significantly improved. With our new structure, which overcomes the individual limitations of the previous schemes, the sensitivity and resolution of our gyroscope are higher than those with coupling-coefficient modulation alone and circumference modulation alone. The resolution of the gyroscope gradually declines with increasing resonator propagation loss; when the quality factor Q≤2×106, the height of the center resonance peak of the transmission band decreases by more than 90%. Fortunately, this effect can be weakened by increasing the circumference difference. We also numerically analyzed the influence of manufacturing errors on the performance of the gyroscope. We found that the fluctuations of radius have a greater influence than the fluctuations of quality factor.