We study in this Letter the dynamical effects of the limited bandwidth of the control electronics in a solid-state (Nd-YAG) ring laser gyroscope. We derive a stability condition for the rotation-sensing regime in the case of a first-order control loop, showing that the smallest measurable rotation speed depends directly on the cutoff frequency value. Our experimental measurements are in good agreement with this prediction.
We report experimental and theoretical study of a rotating diode-pumped Nd-YAG ring laser with active beat note stabilization. Our experimental setup is described in the usual Maxwell-Bloch formalism. We analytically derive a stability condition and some frequency response characteristics for the solid-state ring laser gyroscope, illustrating the important role of mode coupling effects on the dynamics of such a device. Experimental data are presented and compared with the theory on the basis of realistic laser parameters, showing a very good agreement. Our results illustrate the duality between the very rich non linear dynamics of the diode-pumped solid-state ring laser (including chaotic behavior) and the possibility to obtain a very stable beat note, resulting in a potentially new kind of rotation sensor.
We study the suppression of nonlinear interactions in resonant macroscopic quantum devices in the case of the solid-state ring laser gyroscope. These nonlinear interactions are tuned by vibrating the gain medium along the cavity axis. Beat note occurrence under rotation provides a precise measurement of the strength of nonlinear interactions, which turn out to vanish for some discrete values of the amplitude of vibration. Our theoretical description, in very good agreement with the measured data, suggests the use of a higher vibration frequency to achieve quasi-ideal rotation sensing over a broad range of rotation speeds. We finally underline the analogy between this device and some other macroscopic quantum rotation sensors, such as ring-shaped superfluid configurations, where nonlinear interactions could be tuned for example by the use of magnetically-induced Feschbach resonance.
A theoretical and experimental investigation of the effects of mode coupling in a resonant macro- scopic quantum device is achieved in the case of a ring laser. In particular, we show both analytically and experimentally that such a device can be used as a rotation sensor provided the effects of mode coupling are controlled, for example through the use of an additional coupling. A possible general- ization of this example to the case of another resonant macroscopic quantum device is discussed.
Interferometric gyroscope systems are being developed with the goal of measuring general-relativistic effects including frame-dragging effects. Such devices are also capable of performing searches for Lorentz violation. We summarize efforts that relate gyroscope measurements to coefficients for Lorentz violation in the gravity sector of the Standard-Model Extension.
High-power, diffraction-limited organic solid-state laser operation has been achieved in a vertical external cavity surface-emitting organic laser (VECSOL), pumped by a low-cost compact blue laser diode. The diode-pumped VECSOLs were demonstrated with various dyes in a polymer matrix, leading to laser emissions from 540 nm to 660 nm. Optimization of both the pump pulse duration and output coupling leads to a pump slope efficiency of 11% for a DCM based VECSOLs. We report output pulse energy up to 280 nJ with 100 ns long pump pulses, leading to a peak power of 3.5 W in a circularly symmetric, diffraction-limited beam.