Enhanced sensitivity of optical gyroscope in a mechanical parity-time-symmetric system based on exceptional point

• Published in: New journal of physics Vol. 22; no. 9; pp. 93009 - 93019
• Main Authors: Mao, Xuan, Qin, Guo-Qing, Yang, Hong, Zhang, Hao, Wang, Min, Long, Gui-Lu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 01.09.2020
• Subjects: exceptional point; Gyroscopes; mechanical parity-time-symmetric system; Microcavities; optical gyroscope; Optical pumping; Parameter sensitivity; Parity; Perturbation; Physics; Sensitivity enhancement; Symmetry
• ISSN: 1367-2630; 1367-2630
• DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/abaacd

High-sensitivity gyroscope is widely used for rotation detection in several practical applications. Recently, exceptional points (EPs) have garnered considerable attention for enhancing the sensitivity of sensors based on optical cavities. Here, we propose an EP-enhanced optical gyroscope based on mechanical parity-time (PT) symmetry in a microcavity system. We demonstrate that by pumping the two optical modes with different colors, i.e., blue and red detuning, an effective mechanical PT-symmetric system can be obtained, and the system can be prepared at EP with appropriate parameters. The sensitivity of gyroscope at EP was enhanced by more than one order of magnitude in the weak perturbation regime as compared to that at diabolic point. This indicates that the sensitivity of gyroscope can be effectively enhanced by monitoring the mechanical modes rather than the optical modes. Overall, our work provides a promising approach to design high-sensitivity gyroscopes in optical microcavities and is potentially useful in a variety of research fields including fundamental physics and precision measurement.