Principles and Prospects of Sagnac Interferometer Gyroscopes

Abstract

Sagnac interferometer gyroscopes can be divided into three large generations using starting points of time or highlights of their research. As the first generational Sagnac interferometer, the ring laser gyroscopes have been studied since the 1960s by laser invention, and as the second generational Sagnac interferometer, the fiber optic gyroscopes have been studied since the 1970s by invention of optical fiber for communication. In the latter half of the 1990s, after having confirmed the wave theory of the atom, studies of atomic interferometers were started for a next generation gyroscope application. This paper discusses the operation principles, application, and future prospects of these three generations of Sagnac gyroscopes.