Optomechanical gyroscope utilizing the Sagnac effect
| DWPI Title: Apparatus for detecting angular rotation of circulating optical resonator of optomechanical gyroscope, has signal-processing circuit for mixing output detector signals to generate signal indicative of difference in frequency |
| Abstract: An apparatus and a method for detecting rotation based on the Sagnac effect is disclosed. Input light having sufficient power is injected into a circulating optical resonator to thereby excite an optomechanical oscillation of the resonator at an instantaneous mechanical angular frequency. Rotation of the circulating optical resonator causes a change in a frequency of the optomechanical oscillation of the resonator, which in turn causes the instantaneous mechanical angular frequency to change. The optomechanical oscillation produces modulation sidebands in the resonating optical field at the instantaneous mechanical angular frequency and harmonics thereof, which are demodulated from the optical frequency by detection in a photodetector. Differences in the instantaneous mechanical angular frequency induced by rotation are detected by processing the photodetector output signal. |
| Use: Apparatus for detecting angular rotation of a circulating optical resonator of an optomechanical gyroscope based on Sagnac effect. |
| Advantage: The apparatus increases mechanical quality factor of a micro-ring circulating optical resonator. The apparatus increases signal amplitude while eliminating common-mode noise to excite optomechanical oscillation by driving the circulating optical resonator with an optical output power of the laser exceeds the threshold required to overcome intrinsic mechanical damping and output wavelength is blue-shifted relative to the unperturbed resonant peak wavelength of the resonator. |
| Novelty: The apparatus has a light source adapted to generate input light. A first photodetector (550A) is optically coupled to a waveguide and generates a first output detector signal in response to received portion of the output light. A second photodetector (550B) is optically coupled to the light source and generates a second output detector signal in response to received second portion of input light. A signal-processing circuit (570) is electrically coupled to the first photodetector and the second photodetector and mixes the first output detector signal with the second output detector signal to generate a signal indicative of difference in frequency between the instantaneous mechanical angular frequency and irrotational mechanical angular frequency. |
| Filed: 8/10/2018 |
| Application Number: US16100925A |
| Tech ID: SD 14018.1 |
| This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. DE-NA0003525 awarded by the United States Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration. The Government has certain rights in the invention. |
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