Applications of highresolution Sagnac interferometry

Ulrich Schreiber
Technische Universitat Munchen
Germany


ABSTRACT

Over the last decade, ring lasers have found their way back into the research 
laboratories. By scaling them up in size, they have gained several orders of 
magnitude over their commercial counterparts, both in sensitivity and stability. 
Unlike the well established space geodetic techniques SLR/LLR and VLBI, ring 
lasers can be operated autonomous and continuously. Furthermore laser gyros 
reach their maximum resolution after a relative short integration time. This 
opens the door for the research of high frequency variations in Earth rotation.

This talk is introducing this measurement technique and outlines some of the 
recently obtained results. On top of that it addresses the specific properties 
that relate to the fact, that ring lasers are local sensors. It also shows the 
potential of this measurement technique in the field of seismology and civil 
engineering.