The University of New Mexico

Petr G Eliseev

Marek A Osinski

Edward W Taylor

Method and apparatus embody a rotation sensor including one or more ring lasers designed to utilize a nonlinear Sagnac effect, a passive waveguide arrangement, and a photodetector arrangement to receive the outcoupled light and to detect rotation of the sensor; wherein these components are arranged into a monolithically integrated optoelectronic integrated circuit on a single substrate. The method and apparatus can include seeding a stable, rotation -insensitive, strong (driving) wave using a single-frequency edge emitting laser monolithically integrated on the same substrate.

Rotation-sensitive semiconductor ring laser device using the nonlinear Sagnac effect

A monolithically integrated semiconductor laser rotation sensor/gyroscope that includes at least two isolated, nonsynchronized semiconductor lasers; at least one being unidirectional and at least a further one being either a straight-line laser or a second unidirectional ring laser configured to propagate lasing light waves in the direction opposite to the first unidirectional ring laser; semiconductor directional waveguide couplers; a semiconductor Y-junction mixing region; and a semiconductor photodetector. Evanescently outcoupled signals are routed to a photodetector for detection of the Sagnac shifted frequencies to discern a beat frequency resulting from rotation of the chip structure. The straight-line semiconductor laser serves as frequency reference insensitive to rotation. Directing, filtering, and radiating unwanted reflections or backscattered light to highly absorbing regions is carried out with waveguide coupler designs and nonreciprocal couplers and filters.

Monolithically integrated semiconductor unidirectional ring laser rotation sensor/gyroscope

The present invention provides a unipolar semiconductor structure comprising: at least one active layer comprising at least one group III-nitride; and at two barrier layers disposed on either side of the active layer, each of the two barrier layers comprising at least one group

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Albuquerque, NM, United States of America

Petr G Eliseev