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Ring Laser Gyro Single Axis Rotation Sensor

A laser gyro is a ring laser which means that it has 2 laser counter-propagating beams traveling in a closed path (ring). Because each beam has equal intensity, it forms regions of high electromagnetic field energy density called anti-nodes and separate regions of zero energy density called nodes. For the effects of rotation on light phase see Sagnac Effect

Since both beams usually travel at the same speed, these anti-nodes stand usually still in the frame of the ring laser. However, when the laser gyro rotates, the beam going in the direction of rotation travels slower with respect to the laser gyro frame and the opposite beam travels faster. This results in the anti-nodes moving backward, relative to the rotating frame of the enclosure.

I show a single antinode as a black circle that is backward at a rate that depends on the rotation speed of the ring laser. For a square ring laser, the number of anti-nodes moving past a given mirror, `n_M`, during one rotation of the ring laser frame is `pi/4` times the total number, `n_T`, of anti-nodes around the ring. By counting the number of anti-nodes that have moved past a mirror we have a measure of the total rotated angle.

`phi_(rotated)=4/pin_M/n_T`

Laser Gyro Information