We have measured the dispersion for a 632.8nm probe beam in helium neon vapor in the presence of a strong pump. Our measurements show an average index of refraction variation of 1.27 * 10^-6 per GHz. This degree of dispersion could provide up to a 33% scale factor enhancement if implemented in a Ring Laser Gyroscope (RLG), and our measurements indicate enhancements of >100% are possible. With some modifications in this approach, the same dispersion should be achievable in a compact system which can be integrated with existing RLGs at a reasonable cost and without drastic increases in size, weight, or power. Further theoretical modeling is required in order to determine the maximum achievable scale factor enhancement, and the effects on rotational measurement noise and bias stability.

Date Published: 8 February 2012
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 8273, Advances in Slow and Fast Light V, 82730H (8 February 2012); doi: 10.1117/12.916174

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8273:
Advances in Slow and Fast Light V
Selim M. Shahriar; Frank A. Narducci, Editor(s)