Observation of Winking Phenomenon in Ring Laser Gyroscope with a Semiconductor Optical Amplifier

Abstract

This paper reports the observation of winking phenomenon in a ring laser gyroscope (RLG), in which the air is used as a laser path with a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) as a gain medium. The winking phenomenon is a significant characteristic of RLGs, which the light intensity varies with an applied angular velocity. The ring laser resonator using an SOA was assembled to observe the winking phenomenon and resonance characteristics were examined. As a result, the winking phenomenon was successfully observed and we found that the SOA can be used for the gain medium of the RLG.