Optics Communications 259 (2006) 393394

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Erratum

Erratum to Optical gyroscope with whispering gallery mode

optical cavities [Opt. Commun. 233 (2004) 107112]
A.B. Matsko *, A.A. Savchenkov, V.S. Ilchenko, L. Maleki
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, MS 298-100, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109-8099, USA
Received 8 August 2005; accepted 10 August 2005

Our recent derivation of the sensitivity of the gyroscope

based on a set of coupled WGM resonators [1] included
only classical, but not special relativity arguments [2] and
as such, is not strictly correct. Below is a correct derivation
of Eqs. (12)(18) of the paper [1] as well as corrections of
several other inconsistencies.
Let us consider two electromagnetic waves propagating
along the rim of the resonator in opposite directions. It is
possible to write the most general expressions for the path
lengths, L, as well as for the phase velocities of the waves,
V, relative to the laboratory frame of reference:
l
2pa
aXt
;
V ph
aX
;
V

1
V ph aX=c2
where a is the radius of the resonator, X is the angular
velocity of the rotation, Vph is the phase velocity of the
light in the material at given frequency of the light x0, c
is the speed of light in the vacuum, and t = l/V are
the times spent by the counter-propagating waves to complete one roundtrip in the resonator. We nd then:
2pa1
V ph aX=c2
s1
V ph aX=c2 ;
V ph 1  a2 X2 =c2
aX
;
Dt t  t 2s
cn0
t

1
2

where Dt is the propagation time dierence between the

counter-propagating waves. Eqs. (1) and (2) should replace
Eqs. (12) and (13) of the paper. The change here is that the
time dierence does not depend on the refractive index of
the material [2].

We recall now that the resonance frequency of the rotating resonator can be dened as x = 2pN/t, where N is
the mode number, we get



aX
;
3
x
x0 1 
cn0
where n0 is the index of refraction of the medium, and x0 is
the resonance frequency of the motionless resonator. This
equation replaces Eq. (14) in the paper. The dierence here
is in the dependence of the expression on the refractive
index.
Assuming that the counter-propagating light waves with
carrier frequency x0 are send into the resonator we get
phase shifts for the waves
/

4sx0 aX
T cn0

and, consequently, the phase dierence

D/

8sx0 aX 8pa2 X

;
T cn0 kV g n0

where Vg  aT/2s (Eq. (9) in [1]) is the group velocity

characterizing the resonator, k = 2pc/x0. The group
velocity reects the average velocity of a light pulse passing the resonator. The value of the velocity is equal to the
resonator diameter 2a divided by the group delay time 4s/
T.
For a chain of WGM resonators coupled to an optical
ber loop of radius R at its inner boundary the integral
phase shift is derived by multiplying shift (4) by number
of the resonators R/a in the loop:
D/chain

DOI of original article: 10.1016/j.optcom.2004.01.035.

Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 818 3937781; fax: +1 818 3936773.
E-mail address: Andrey.Matsko@jpl.nasa.gov (A.B. Matsko).

doi:10.1016/j.optcom.2005.08.017

8paRX
.
kV g n0

Eq. (5) replaces Eq. (17) of the paper. The chain of resonators introduces a signal with a factor of R/a smaller

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Erratum / Optics Communications 259 (2006) 393394

than the signal produced by a single resonator of radius

a = R possessing the same nesse 2p/T. Such a single resonator produces a signal that almost coincides with Eq.
(17):
2

D/single

8pR X
.
kV g n0

Therefore, a gyroscope based on a single resonator is preferable compared with a gyroscope based on the resonator
chain.
It is important to emphasize that the dependence of the
signal on the group velocity is rather an interesting coincidence that results from the fact that the resonators have a
nite size. Fundamentally, the dispersion of the index of
refraction of a material does not inuence the signal dierently from passive rotation sensors [2]. If one puts a/R ! 0
(a chain of innitely small resonators), the signal (5) goes
to zero.
The corrected version of the equation (18) from [1] for
the case of a single resonator (not a chain) gyroscope of radius R reads

Xjmin

 c 2 T
> 2p
4pR x0

s
hx0
.
P out tM

Eq. (24) from [1] describing a gyroscope with losses

should be modied as well. Keeping in mind that in an
absorbing medium for a single resonator of radius R the
power ratio of output/input is Pout/Pin = (cc  c)2/
(cc + c)2, group time delay is 2cc =c2c  c2 (see Eq. (21) in
[1]), (2c)1 = n0(ac)1, T = 2scc, and using (7) we write
instead of Eq. (24) from [1]
2 r
 c 2 T

c
hx0
.
8
Xjmin > 2p
1
P in tM
4pR x0
cc
Finally, the structure shown in Fig. 1 of [1] does not
work. The resonators should be placed either inside or outside the loop.
References
[1] A.B. Matsko, A.A. Savchenkov, V.S. Ilchenko, L. Maleki, Opt.
Commun. 233 (2004) 107.
[2] G.B. Malykin, Physics-Uspekhi 43 (2000) 1229.