Biasing the beat regime of a solid-state ring laser: From a magnetometer to a multioscillator rotation sensor

摘要

In this paper, we discuss the possible applications of a solid-state ring laser comprising a feedback loop for stabilizing the bidirectional regime and a magneto-optic element for frequency-shifting the counterpropagating modes. In a first simple two-mode configuration, this device is shown to be sensitive to small changes in the rotation rate and external magnetic field. In a second more sophisticated version, the magnetic sensitivity can be significantly reduced thanks to multioscillator operation. The results of our proof-of-principle four-mode experi- ment are discussed, and some improvements are suggested toward a high-performance solid-state ring laser gyroscope without lock-in.