Ring laser gyroscope mirror orientation system and method

Claim 1

In a ring laser gyroscope, having a frame, and a closed optical path formed by a plurality of reflecting mirrors; a method of orientation for at least one of said mirrors in order to provide a lower scatter and optimum cavity finesse, comprising the steps of: (a) rotationally oscillating, at least one of each of a plurality of mirrors positioned away from said ring laser gyroscope frame along an axis of rotation which is parallel to a normal of said mirror; (b) measuring a resonant output light beam emitted from said closed optical path to determine a speckle pattern intensity of said beam at a reflection point on a reflecting surface of said rotationally oscillating mirror; (c) positioning said rotationally oscillating mirror securely onto a corner of said frame when said speckle pattern from said mirror has reached a minimum optical intensity; repeating steps (a) through (c) above for each remaining mirror one at a time until each mirror along said optical path is secured to said frame at a reflecting point such that the overall scatter is optimized; whereby, proper orientation of each of the mirrors along said closed optical pathway will be achieved.

Claim 7

A system for orientation for at least one of a plurality of mirrors of a ring laser gyroscope, said gyroscope including a monolithic frame defining a closed optical path formed by an internal cavity which connects said plurality of mirrors, said orientation system comprising: a source laser providing an external coherent light beam source to said optical pathway, said light beam being reflected from the surfaces of each mirror along the optical path producing a resultant speckle which is a function of combined backscatter of light of the surfaces of said mirrors; micromanipulator means for fine movements of one of said mirrors affixed to one of said mirrors, said micromanipulator means providing a micro-translation reciprocally along an axis normal to the plane of a mirror surface being measured; and said micromanipulator means providing oscillatory movement of one of said mirrors about its own axis when said mirror is withdrawn off the frame of said gyroscope; detection means for detecting an output light signal speckle pattern associated with the mirror under fine movement by the micromanipulator means; synchronous detection and feedback means for adjusting said micromanipulator means to select an optimum location on the surface of said mirror being moved by said micromanipulator means as detected by said detection means; whereby, each of said mirrors are positioned along said optical path along an optimum mirror surface location properly aligned for maximum ring laser gyroscope performance.

Claim 8

A system for orientation for at least one of a plurality of mirrors of a ring laser gyroscope, said gyroscope including a monolithic frame defining a closed optical path formed by an internal cavity which connects said plurality of mirrors, said orientation system comprising: a source laser providing an external coherent light beam source to said optical pathway, said light beam being reflected from the surfaces of each mirror along the optical path producing a resultant speckle which is a function of combined backscatter of light of the surfaces of said mirrors; micromanipulator means for fine movements of one of said mirrors affixed to one of said mirrors, said micromanipulator means providing a micro-translation reciprocally along an axis normal to the plane of a mirror surface being measured; and said micromanipulator means providing oscillatory movement of one of said mirrors about its own axis when said mirror is withdrawn off the frame of said gyroscope; detection means for detecting an output light signal speckle pattern associated with the mirror under fine movement by the micromanipulator means; synchronous detection and feedback means for adjusting said micromanipulator means to select an optimum location on the surface of said mirror being moved by said micromanipulator means as detected by said detection means; whereby, each of said mirrors are positioned along said optical path along an optimum mirror surface location properly aligned for maximum ring laser gyroscope performance.

Claim 10

A system for orientation of at least one of a plurality of mirrors of a mirrored ring resonator, said mirrored ring resonator including a monolithic frame defining a closed optical path formed by an internal cavity which connects said plurality of mirrors, said orientation system comprising: a source laser providing an external coherent light beam source to said optical pathway, said light beam being reflected from the surfaces of each mirror along the optical path producing a resultant speckle which is a function of the combined backscatter of light of surfaces of said mirrors; micromanipulator means for fine movements of one of said mirrors affixed to one of said mirrors, said micromanipulator means providing a micro-translation reciprocally along an axis normal to the plane of a mirror surface being measured; and said micromanipulator means providing rotational oscillatory movement of one of said mirrors about its own normal when said mirror is withdrawn off the frame of said mirrored ring resonator; detection means for detecting an output light signal speckle pattern associated with the mirror under fine movement by the micromanipulator means; synchronous detection and feedback means for adjusting said micromanipulator means to select an optimum location on a surface of said mirror being moved by said micromanipulator means as detected by said detection means; whereby, each of said mirrors are positioned along said optical path along an optimum mirror surface location properly orientated for maximum mirrored ring resonator performance.

Claim 11

A system for orientation of at least one of a plurality of mirrors of a mirrored ring resonator, said mirrored ring resonator including a monolithic frame defining a closed optical path formed by an internal cavity which connects said plurality of mirrors, said orientation system comprising: a source laser providing an external coherent light beam source to said optical pathway, said light beam being reflected from the surfaces of each mirror along the optical path producing a resultant speckle which is a function of the combined backscatter of light of surfaces of said mirrors; micromanipulator means for fine movements of one of said mirrors affixed to one of said mirrors, said micromanipulator means providing a micro-translation reciprocally along an axis normal to the plane of a mirror surface being measured; and said micromanipulator means providing rotational oscillatory movement of one of said mirrors about its own normal when said mirror is withdrawn off the frame of said mirrored ring resonator; detection means for detecting an output light signal speckle pattern associated with the mirror under fine movement by the micromanipulator means; synchronous detection and feedback means for adjusting said micromanipulator means to select an optimum location on a surface of said mirror being moved by said micromanipulator means as detected by said detection means; whereby, each of said mirrors are positioned along said optical path along an optimum mirror surface location properly orientated for maximum mirrored ring resonator performance.