Mode broadening induced by rotation rate in an atom assisted microresonator

Abstract

Nonreciprocity of the counterpropagating waves in a ring resonator induced by the rotation rate results in a measurable frequency shift. A self-reference measurement using mode broadening induced by backscattering is proposed to detect the rotation rate in a whispering gallery mode resonator with a cavity-made slot filled with atomic vapor. Through detuning an optical pump rate and a strong driving field coupled to a three-level atomic vapor, the backscattering generated by the cavity-made slot becomes sensitive to the rotation. Degenerate clockwise and counterclockwise modes couple to each other and create two new eigenmodes via manipulating the backscattering of the cavity-made slot. Detecting the mode broadening induced by the rotation rate enables the gyroscope’s sensitivity to be enhanced at least four orders of magnitude in a low Q factor microresonator.