LN Phase Modulator, ASE Light Source Module for Fiber Optic Gyroscope

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POINTek, Inc., a global leader and provider of high performance athermal AWG products, announced launching of a new family of aerospace application products: Lithium Niobate Phase Modulator and ASE Light Source Module for Fiber Optic Gyroscope (FOG).

LN Phase Modulator and ASE Light Source Module are the most important optical parts for FOG Inertial Navigation System.  FOG is an effective optics to measure the angular velocity using the Sagnac effect.  The fiber laser light generated from an ASE light source module and launched into a 1x2 LN phase modulator whose splitting arms are connected to each end of a close-looped Polarization Maintaining (PM) fiber coil.  The two split lights from each arm of a phase modulator travel the same PM fiber coil in the opposite directions with the different polarizations.  In this traveling path, two lights with the different polarization experience the path delay which results in the phase shift.  Thus, the magnitude of the phase shift determines the accurate angular velocity.

POINTek recently started shipping phase modulators and ASE light source modules to Hanwha Aerospace in South Korea, a global leader in the advanced Aerospace System solutions.

"We are very pleased to formally set up a new aerospace business sector based on the multi-year large volume supply contract with Hanwha Aerospace.  The long-standing good collaboration with Hanwha Aerospace over a decade has led us to organize and streamline our FOG products into a new business line within POINTek," according to Dr. Donald Yu, CMO of POINTek, operating from Los Angeles, California. Yu explains that POINTk's LN phase modulators and ASE light source modules have satisfied the customer's high quality and on-time delivery guidelines. "Fiber optic gyroscopes are used in the navigation, guidance, position stabilization and motion sensor system especially in the aerospace industry.  Therefore, the optical parts require the high level of quality performance. We are proud of meeting the customer's requirements and finally it led us to the successful launch in POINTek's new aerospace business unit," Yu adds.

"Our LN phase modulators provide the high-quality Polarization Extinction Ratio (PER) performance.  Because of our long-standing technical experiences in the high performance athermal AWG and other Telcom product development, we have adopted our sufficient packaging knowhows into the high PER performance.  The low level of the PER is an important advantage for the more accurate FOG.  Also, our ASE light sources, designed to support the three axes, perform very well, providing a balanced injected light power level among the 3 axes.  Therefore, combination of our LN phase modulator and ASE light source module can all together provide the highly accurate FOG unit," says Dr. T.H. Rhee, CEO of POINTek.  "In addition, we are proud of introducing other Aerospace products which could monitor structural stress/strain in the Aerospace Vehicles at the harsh environmental condition. Our products are designed to monitor change of mechanical stress/strain from multiple of hundreds of measurement points at once, so that it is a very efficient and effective way to prevent the possible fatal accident in advance," Rhee adds.

POINTek's specialty in high performance optical components offers a timely and appropriate solution to various optical components used in advanced FOG/INS applications and aerospace industries. These LN phase modulator and ASE light source module along with other new Data Center, Aerospace, and AI/Silicon photonics products will be shown in POINTek booth 2759 at the forthcoming OFC2025 Exposition in Moscone Convention Center, San Francisco in April1~3, 2025.