Sensing earth's rotation with a helium-neon ring laser operating at 1.15 μm
- Author(s)
- K. Ulrich Schreiber, Robert J. Thirkettle, Robert B. Hurst, David Follman, Garrett D. Cole, Markus Aspelmeyer, Jon-Paul R. Wells
- Abstract
We report on the operation of a 2.56 m2 helium-neon based ring laser interferometer at a wavelength of 1.152276 μm using crystalline coated intracavity supermirrors. This work represents the first implementation of crystalline coatings in an active laser system and expands the core application area of these low-thermal-noise cavity end mirrors to inertial sensing systems. Stable gyroscopic behavior can only be obtained with the addition of helium to the gain medium as this quenches the 1.152502 μm (2s
4→ 2p
7 ) transition of the neon doublet which otherwise gives rise to mode competition. For the first time at this wavelength, the ring laser is observed to readily unlock on the bias provided by the earth's rotation alone, yielding a Sagnac frequency of approximately 59 Hz.
- Organisation(s)
- Quantum Optics, Quantum Nanophysics and Quantum Information
- External organisation(s)
- Technische Universität München, University of Canterbury, Thorlabs Inc.
- Journal
- Optics Letters
- Volume
- 40
- Pages
- 1705-1708
- No. of pages
- 4
- ISSN
- 0146-9592
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.40.001705
- Publication date
- 04-2015
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 103026 Quantum optics
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/b719f79d-38ed-42a4-a72a-d1c97a180e9f