Non-Hermitian Ring Laser Gyroscopes with Enhanced Sagnac Sensitivity

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a novel approach using non-Hermitian singularities to enhance the sensitivity of ring laser gyroscopes, potentially leading to more precise and compact inertial sensors.

Contribution

It introduces the use of non-Hermitian exceptional points to improve Sagnac sensitivity in RLGs, a new method compared to previous dispersive or nonlinear techniques.

Findings

Enhanced Sagnac scale factor achieved experimentally

Potential for ultrasensitive, compact gyroscope development

Practical approach for integrated sensor improvement

Abstract

Gyroscopes play a crucial role in many and diverse applications associated with navigation, positioning, and inertial sensing [1]. In general, most optical gyroscopes rely on the Sagnac effect -- a relativistically induced phase shift that scales linearly with the rotational velocity [2,3]. In ring laser gyroscopes (RLGs), this shift manifests itself as a resonance splitting in the emission spectrum that can be detected as a beat frequency [4]. The need for ever-more precise RLGs has fueled research activities towards devising new approaches aimed to boost the sensitivity beyond what is dictated by geometrical constraints. In this respect, attempts have been made in the past to use either dispersive or nonlinear effects [5-8]. Here, we experimentally demonstrate an altogether new route based on non-Hermitian singularities or exceptional points in order to enhance the Sagnac scale factor [9-13]. Our results not only can pave the way towards a new generation of ultrasensitive and compact ring laser gyroscopes, but they may also provide practical approaches for developing other classes of integrated sensors.