Short wavelength operation of a 10 m perimeter ring laser gyroscope.

We report on the operation of a 10 m perimeter, helium-neon based ring laser gyroscope on the 3s 2→2p 6 (611.8 nm) and 3s 2→2p 10 (543.4 nm) transitions of neon. Cavity Q factors of 1.5×1012 and 3.8×1011 are obtained for 611.8 and 543.4 nm operation, inferred from measured ring-down times of 485 and 110 µs, respectively. For Sagnac frequencies, due to Earth rotation, of 205.14 and 230.96 Hz, minimum resolvable rotation rates of 80 and 226 prad/s are achieved for integration times of around 100 s. While environment limited performance is achieved for operation at 611.8 nm, it is found that a restrictive gas pressure regime must be utilized for the 543.4 nm lasing wavelength. As a consequence, the output photon count is low, which limits its intrinsic sensitivity for rotation rate measurements.

Gyroscopic performance and some seismic measurements made with a 10 meter perimeter ring laser gyro housed in the Ernest Rutherford building.

We describe the construction and operation of a large ring laser whose beam paths enclose an area of 6.25m2. The gyroscopic performance of this large laser interferometer was determined using laser operation at a wavelength of 632.8 nm. The laser cavity Q was inferred to be 1.1×1012 via a measured ring-down time of 375 µs, and the measured Sagnac frequency is 198.40 Hz due to Earth's rotation. The measured experimental sensitivity to rotation achieved is 7.9×10-12rad/s/Hz at an averaging interval of 512 s (being limited primarily by ambient building noise). The observation of microseismic activity in the 200 mHz region as well as local earthquakes is discussed.

Reconstruction of the Instantaneous Earth Rotation Vector with Sub-Arcsecond Resolution Using a Large Scale Ring Laser Array.

Absolute rotation rate sensing with extreme sensitivity requires a combination of several large scale gyroscopes in order to obtain the full vector of rotation. We report on the construction and operation of a four-component, tetrahedral laser gyroscope array as large as a five story building and situated in a near surface, underground laboratory. It is demonstrated that reconstruction of the full Earth rotation vector can be achieved with sub-arcsecond resolution over more than six weeks.

Sensing Earth rotation with a helium-neon laser operating on three transitions in the visible region.

We demonstrate an active Sagnac ring interferometer that operates on the previously unexploited 3s2→2p6 (611.8 nm), 3s2→2p7 (604.6 nm), and 3s2→2p8 (593.9 nm) neon transitions, in a helium-neon gain medium. The cavity was constructed using state-of-the-art ion-beam sputtered, ultralow-loss supermirrors designed to yield greater transmission loss at lower optical frequency, which partially compensates for the gain differential across the three transitions. For an optimized cavity fill of 0.3 mbar partial pressure of neon (50% Ne20 and 50% Ne22) and a total gas pressure of 2 mbar, for laser operation at 611.8 nm, the cavity Q is 1.2×1011, having a cold cavity ringdown time of 38 µs. The laser yielded a stable Sagnac frequency of 117.4 Hz due to the Earth's rotation. The usable gyroscopic sensitivity is determined to be 8.8×10-9 rad/s for a measurement time of 128 s.

Gyroscopic operation on the 3s2→2p10 543.3 nm transition of neon in a 2.56 m2 ring cavity.

We report the development and initial operation of a 6.4 meter perimeter laser gyroscope employing the 543.3 nm, 3s2→2p10 transition of neon. Employing fused silica based supermirrors yielding a cavity Q of 3.9×1011 and an inferred lock in threshold below 1 µHz, the gyroscope unlocked on the bias provided by Earth rotation alone with a measured Sagnac frequency of approximately 133 Hz, which is 16% larger than that of the 632.8 nm transition.

The Macek and Davis experiment revisited: a large ring laser interferometer operating on the 2s2 → 2p4 transition of neon.

We operate a large helium-neon-based ring laser interferometer with single-crystal GaAs/AlGaAs optical coatings on the 2s2→2p4 transition of neon at a wavelength of 1.152276 µm. For either single longitudinal- or phase-locked multi-mode operation, the preferable gas composition for gyroscopic operation is 0.2 and 0.3 mbar of 50:50 neon with total pressures between 6-12 mbar. The Earth rotation bias is sufficient to unlock the device, yielding a Sagnac frequency of approximately 60 Hz.

X-ray Excitation Triggers Ytterbium Anomalous Emission in CaF2:Yb but Not in SrF2:Yb.

Materials that luminesce after excitation with ionizing radiation are extensively applied in physics, medicine, security, and industry. Lanthanide dopants are known to trigger crystal scintillation through their fast d-f emissions; the same is true for other important applications as lasers or phosphors for lighting. However, this ability can be seriously compromised by unwanted anomalous emissions often found with the most common lanthanide activators. We report high-resolution X-ray-excited optical (IR to UV) luminescence spectra of CaF2:Yb and SrF2:Yb samples excited at 8949 eV and 80 K. Ionizing radiation excites the known anomalous emission of ytterbium in the CaF2 host but not in the SrF2 host. Wave function-based ab initio calculations of host-to-dopant electron transfer and Yb2+/Yb3+ intervalence charge transfer explain the difference. The model also explains the lack of anomalous emission in Yb-doped SrF2 excited by VUV radiation.

High-accuracy absolute rotation rate measurements with a large ring laser gyro: establishing the scale factor.

Large ring lasers have exceeded the performance of navigational gyroscopes by several orders of magnitude and have become useful tools for geodesy. In order to apply them to tests in fundamental physics, remaining systematic errors have to be significantly reduced. We derive a modified expression for the Sagnac frequency of a square ring laser gyro under Earth rotation. The modifications include corrections for dispersion (of both the gain medium and the mirrors), for the Goos-Hänchen effect in the mirrors, and for refractive index of the gas filling the cavity. The corrections were measured and calculated for the 16 m2 Grossring laser located at the Geodetic Observatory Wettzell. The optical frequency and the free spectral range of this laser were measured, allowing unique determination of the longitudinal mode number, and measurement of the dispersion. Ultimately we find that the absolute scale factor of the gyroscope can be estimated to an accuracy of approximately 1 part in 108.

The determination of dopant ion valence distributions in insulating crystals using XANES measurements.

Ytterbium-doped wide-bandgap fluoride crystals CaF2, SrF2 and NaMgF3 have been measured using x-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) on the L3 edge to determine the ratio of trivalent to divalent Yb ions present in the crystals. This study improves upon previous XANES measurements of dopant ion valency by taking into account the x-ray emission transition probabilities for the divalent and trivalent species instead of simply assuming that the relative concentrations may be determined by the ratio of the x-ray excitation band areas. Trivalent to divalent ratios as high as 5 are inferred even at low total dopant ion concentrations of 0.05 mol% Yb.

Sensing earth's rotation with a helium-neon ring laser operating at 1.15 µm.

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 (2s4→2p7) 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.

Correction of backscatter-induced systematic errors in ring laser gyroscopes.

In ring laser gyroscopes, backscatter coupling between the counterpropagating beams leads to systematic errors in measured rotation rates. We show the errors can be derived from the nearly independent optical frequency perturbations of the separate beams. In a process of double backscatter each beam is scattered first into the other beam direction, then rescattered back into itself, giving phase and amplitude perturbations. The analysis proceeds from a purely passive ring cavity, through inclusion of a gain medium and gain saturation. The rotation rate errors may be estimated and corrected from the modulations of the counterpropagating beams. The method is demonstrated with real data.

Effective Hamiltonian parameters for ab initio energy-level calculations of SrCl2:Yb2+ and CsCaBr3:Yb2+.

Calculated energy levels from recent ab initio studies of the electronic structure of SrCl2:Yb(2+) and CsCaBr3:Yb(2+) are fitted with a semi-empirical 'crystal-field' Hamiltonian, which acts within the model space 4f(14) + 4f(13)5d + 4f(13)6s. Parameters are obtained for the minima of the potential energy curves for each energy level and also for a range of anion-cation separations. The parameters are compared with published parameters fitted to experimental data and to atomic calculations. The states with significant 4f(13)6s character give a good approximation to the impurity-trapped exciton states that appear in the ab initio calculations.

Invited review article: Large ring lasers for rotation sensing.

Over the last two decades a series of large ring laser gyroscopes have been built having an unparalleled scale factor. These upscaled devices have improved the sensitivity and stability for rotation rate measurements by six orders of magnitude when compared to previous commercial developments. This progress has made possible entirely new applications of ring laser gyroscopes in the fields of geophysics, geodesy, and seismology. Ring lasers are currently the only viable measurement technology, which is directly referenced to the instantaneous rotation axis of the Earth. The sensor technology is rapidly developing. This is evidenced by the first experimentally viable proposals to make terrestrial tests of general relativistic effects such as the frame dragging of the rotating Earth.

Mode selection in an ultralarge ring laser gyro.

A significant operational difficulty with very large ring laser gyroscopes is the length of time required to achieve the desired single-mode configuration. A control technique has been developed where the order of mode splitting between corotating beams is alternated. Theoretical advantages to this are the elimination of noise caused by variations in perimeter and systematic error caused by Adler pulling. External seeding of mode configurations has been proposed to allow the technique to work fast enough to eliminate known sources of perimeter perturbations. While investigating the intensity requirements for this concept, we found that the operating mode of a large ring laser can be successfully self-seeded with seed beams of near (6±3) single photon cavity mode population.

Spectroscopy and crystal-field analysis of KY(3)F(10):Ho(3+).

A laser excitation and infrared absorption study of the single C(4v) symmetry centre in KY(3)F(10):Ho(3+) is presented. Comparatively weak upconversion fluorescence is observed and can be attributed to an energy-transfer excitation mechanism proposed previously. Fifty one crystal-field energy levels for seven Ho(3+) multiplets ((5)I(8), (5)I(7), (5)I(6), (5)F(5), (5)S(2), (5)F(4) and (5)F(3)) have been deduced. A crystal-field analysis has been performed, with excellent agreement found between experimental and calculated energy levels.

Femtosecond pump-probe measurements of non-radiative relaxation in LiAlO(2):V(3+).

We report on time-resolved studies of non-radiative relaxation of V(3+) ions in LiAlO(2) by means of a two-beam, pump-probe saturation experiment performed with the 150 fs pulsed output of a Ti-sapphire laser. Exciting into the vibronically broadened [Formula: see text] transition at 800 nm, a (3)T(1) relaxation time of 199 ps has been measured at 4 K. This value decreases to 82 ps at room temperature, representing a reduction in the lifetime of a factor of 2.5 due to internal-conversion processes. The relative probabilities for non-radiative, phonon-assisted barrier hopping and quantum mechanical tunnelling through the potential barrier to the (3)A(2) ground state have been obtained using Mott's expression, yielding best-fit parameters of W(0) = (5.2 ± 1) × 10(9) Hz and W(1) = (7.5 ± 1) × 10(10) Hz for a potential barrier of E(nr) = 530 ± 50 cm(-1).

Ultrafast vibrational dynamics and stability of deuterated amorphous silicon.

Infrared four-wave mixing experiments performed upon deuterated amorphous silicon layers (a-Si:D) reveal profound differences in the dynamics of Si-D stretch vibrations compared to those of analogous Si-H vibrational modes in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H). Remarkably, transient-grating measurements of the population decay rate of the Si-D vibrations show single-exponential decay directly into collective modes of the a-Si host, bypassing the local bending modes of the defect into which the Si-H vibrations decay. Photon-echo measurements of the vibrational dephasing suggest at low temperature contributions from TO nonequilibrium phonons and at elevated temperatures elastic phonon scattering of TA phonons.