手性激光陀螺仪突破锁定限制
近日，国防科技大学景辉团队报道了手性激光陀螺仪突破锁定限制。2026年6月24日出版的《自然》杂志发表了这项成果。
环形激光陀螺仪（RLG）通过萨格纳克效应测量转动：谐振腔内两束反向传播光束的频率存在微小差异。然而，在低转速下，RLG存在一种固有局限性，即锁区现象，它会抵消这一效应，从而阻碍RLG作为运动传感器的广泛采用。过去为避免该现象所做的努力包括机械抖动和磁光非互易技术，这些技术需要外部元件，限制了RLG的小型化。
研究组提出一种自偏置方法，通过在He–20Ne RLG中利用手性自发对称破缺和非线性频率牵引来克服这一局限，无需插入任何元件。该理论模型揭示了自发对称破缺的相变条件及双稳态手性态的动力学，实验证明手性态可随旋转方向实现确定性切换。值得注意的是，该手性RLG在近零转速下具有线性频率响应，在10秒积分时间内实现了2.2 × 10-2度/小时的开环偏置不稳定性。该工作为开发全固态、高精度和小型化激光陀螺提供了一种策略，并可用于探索光子系统中非线性动力学与自发对称破缺之间的相互作用。
附：英文原文
Title: Chiral laser gyroscopes breaking the lock-in limit
Author: Mao, Yuan-Hao, Xu, Ji-Peng, Ji, Hong-Teng, Yang, Li-Tian, Tan, Zhong-Qi, Quan, Yu-Chuan, Pu, Tao, Shao, Wei, Hu, Jun-Quan, Huang, Ran, Nori, Franco, Jing, Hui
Issue&Volume: 2026-06-24
Abstract: Ring laser gyroscopes (RLGs) measure rotation via the Sagnac effect: a slight difference in the frequency of the two counter-propagating beams within the resonator. However, at low rotation rates, an intrinsic limitation in RLGs, known as the lock-in phenomenon, counteracts this effect, precluding the widespread adoption of RLGs as motion sensors. Past efforts to avoid this phenomenon include mechanical dithering1 and magneto-optic non-reciprocity techniques2. Such techniques require external components that limit the miniaturization of RLGs. Here we present a self-biased method that overcomes this limitation through chiral spontaneous symmetry breaking and nonlinear frequency pulling in a He–20Ne RLG without inserted elements. Supported by a theoretical model that reveals phase transition conditions with spontaneous symmetry breaking and the dynamics of bistable chiral states, our experiments demonstrate deterministic chirality switching synchronized with rotation direction. Remarkably, the chiral RLG has a linear frequency response at near-zero rotation rates, achieving an open-loop bias instability of 2.2×102 degrees per hour at a 10s integration time. Our work presents a strategy for the development of all-solid-state, high-precision and miniaturized laser gyroscopes, which could be used for the exploration of the interplay of nonlinear dynamics and spontaneous symmetry breaking in photonic systems.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10684-4
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10684-4
期刊信息
Nature：《自然》，创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：69.504
官方网址：http://www.nature.com/
投稿链接：http://www.nature.com/authors/submit_manuscript.html