Abstract

To date, the most sensitive and accurate passive optical gyroscopes have been phase reading interferometers with optical outputs of the form I = I₀ (1 + cos ϕ_tot), where ϕ_tot is the non-reciprocal phase shift due to all sources. Ideally, the phase shift has only two components: 2ϕ_s, the Sagnac phase shift (proportional to the rotation rate), and ϕ_dither, which is introduced by a transducer to facilitate the measurement. In the gyroscope we report here, ϕ_dither is applied to a "minimum configuration" gyroscope and creates an ac output of the form

© 1988 Optical Society of America