RING LASER GYROSCOPES

Abstract: A ring laser gyroscope in which RF excitation is used to cause gas discharge as opposed to DC excitation which is used in conventional ring laser gyroscopes. External surfaces of the body of the ring laser gyroscope are metallised to form electrodes and an RF signal is capacitively coupled to gas reservoirs forming part of the lasing cavities.

Description: The present invention relates to ring laser gyroscopes. Ring laser gyroscopes have one or more sensitive axes and for each axis there is provided a gas-filled cavity disposed in a plane at right angles to the associated axis. Each cavity comprises a plurality of reflective surfaces, usually discrete mirrors, defining a polygonal path for two laser beams travelling in opposite directions in a closed loop around the cavity. The laser beams are regeneratively amplified at frequencies for which the path length equals an integral number of wave lengths. A triaxial ring laser gyroscope is disclosed in UK Patent Number 2076213B which comprises three mutually orthogonal square cavities. The cavities are interconnected at the corners so that they share mirrors thus reducing the number of mirrors required to six. The cavities form a regular octahedron and are machined from a unitary block of dielectric material such as Zerodur. The starting geometry of the block is a cube which has at the centres of its faces the six vertices of the octahedron. The vertices are the locations of the six mirrors and the faces of the cube define the mirror mounting planes. The cube is particularly convenient to manufacture to high accuracy and greatly facilitates the precision machining of the laser bores. Large bores are ground from the octahedron vertices toward the centre of the block to form gas reservoirs. These reservoirs extend laser life by reducing the effect of the finite gas permeability of the block and electrodes. Laser gyroscopes are conventionally excited by direct current applied between metal electrodes sealed into the cavities containing the laser gain medium, often a low pressure helium-neon gas mixture, to cause gas discharge and to initiate lasing. In the triaxial ring laser gyroscope disclosed in UK Patent Number 2076213B, the corners of the cube are machined off to form mounting faces for a cathode, dither sparing and so on. For each of the three cavities, two additional bores are connected to the lasing path from the exterior of the block to form anode connections. The anodes have to be symmetrically positioned with respect to the cathode and a means has to be found to prevent anode to anode discharges. In a ring laser gyroscope formed from a unitary block of dielectric material, gas-tight seals are required at each of the mirrors, at each electrode and at a gas-fill aperture. Known ring laser gyroscopes of the type described above have several disadvantages. The gas-tight seals are expensive to make properly, may be prone to leakage and may be a source of failure. The cathode structure has to be large if sputtering is not significantly to degrade the life of the laser. Further, the internal surface of the cathode needs to be specially processed which is an inconvenience and cost in manufacture. Moreover, the discharge has to be split into two counter current paths which are carefully balanced if gas flow is not to give unacceptably large gyro drift error. This requires careful design and precision machining of the cavity bores together with use of very precise, high voltage regulating electronics. Both are expensive and may leave significant residual gas flow errors. Furthermore, it may be difficult to ensure that the discharge initiates in the correct gas path. This requirement places restrictions on the bore geometry which further reduces the available gain. In the case of a triaxial ring laser gyroscope formed from a unitary block and in which the cavities are interconnected, the problems are especially taxing. The difficulty is in establishing an electric field of sufficient strength to initiate discharge along the required gain bores without channelling plasma into bores where it is not required but nonetheless can sustain a discharge path. Large value ballast resistors can be used in the laser current path to suppress plasma oscillations. However, the use of these means that the laser gyroscope has to be run on even higher voltages. The resistors waste power and, because they must be in very close physical proximity to the block in order to be effective, they are a source of thermally driven gyro error. French Patent Specification No.2593650 discloses a single axis gyroscope having all the features of the preamble of claim 1 and having transverse radio frequency excitation of the gas in one limb of the laser cavity. EP-A-0201854 discloses a single axis ring laser gyroscope having a plurality of intersecting bores defining a polygonal laser cavity. Two electrodes are provided for receiving radio frequency electrical energy and exciting as in the cavity to induce a laser-activating discharge through gas provided within the cavity. The gyroscopes described in French Patent No. 2593650 and EP-A-0201854 both suffer from many of the problems associated with the gyroscope described in UK Patent No. 2076213B. It is an object of the present invention to provide a ring laser gyroscope which is an improvement on known ring laser gyroscopes with regard to the problems outlined above. According to the present invention there is provided a ring laser gyroscope comprising a dielectric material body, a plurality of passages in the body, a plurality of reflective members defining a polygonal laser cavity including the passages and two electrodes for receiving radio-frequency electrical energy and exciting gas in the cavity to induce a laser-activating discharge through the gas, characterised in that one or more passages are provided for defining one or more polygonal laser cavities and one or more of said passages included in one or all of said cavities are between the two electrodes and extend in a direction or directions from near one towards the other of the two electrodes for the gas in said one or more of said passages to be longitudinally excited by the two electrodes. In the present invention, the ring laser gyroscope is conveniently made a part of a radio frequency resonant circuit which, before discharge is initiated, has a comparatively high Q factor and automatically creates the higher voltage needed to strike the discharge. Subsequently, the discharge loads the resonant circuit, reducing its Q factor, and reduces the voltage to just that level necessary to dissipate the RF energy supplied. A substantial advantage of the present invention is that, since all the bores are filled with plasma, there is no possibility of a misdirected discharge. Further, gain bores of the same physical size are of identical size and disposition with respect to the electric field and so share the current equally. In fact, equality of gain bore currents and constancy of laser excitation are far less critical than in a DC excited gyro because DC excitation involves ion flow which Doppler shifts the laser beam and causes bias errors. In an RF field there is no net ion flow, the only consideration is that the power dissipation in the gain bores should not become so inbalanced as to cause a thermally driven gas flow. Furthermore, the very large voltages necessary to initiate discharge in conventional ring laser gyroscopes are not needed at radio frequency and the running voltages are also somewhat lower, for four reasons. Firstly, discharges occur more readily when the voltage varies rapidly. Secondly, there is no initial inhibition as a result of surface charges which tend to accumulate on the electrically insulating body of a conventional ring laser gyroscope. Thirdly, there is no space charge associated with radio frequency discharges therefore there are no voltage drops corresponding to the anode and cathode drops when DC excitation is used. Fourthly, the inductance and negative resistance associated with ionic inertia in a DC discharge are much reduced and become part of the overall resonant circuit in an RF discharge. Consequently, ballast resistors are not needed to suppress parasitic oscillations and the penalties detailed earlier are not incurred. The much lower running voltages ease insulation requirements, improve reliability and reduce power consumption. A ring laser gyroscope according to the present invention can be of much simpler construction than a conventional gyroscope because no anode or cathode bores or anode or cathode components are required. Neither are additional bores to form gas reservoirs required. Thus reductions in cost and size can be achieved. Importantly, a ring laser gyroscope according to the present invention requires a lower number of gas seals than known gyroscopes since there are no longer DC electrodes requiring seals. Preferably, the two electrodes are driven in antiphase. This feature enables the peak voltage required to be halved thus easing insulation requirements and improving reliability. Advantageously, the ring laser gyroscope comprises a reservoir for said gas adjacent to one or both of the electrodes. Conveniently, the passages in which the gas is excited by the electrodes are of relatively small diameter while other passages are of relatively much larger diameter so as to form gas reservoirs. In another embodiment to be described, the ring laser gyroscope body is in modular form and comprises first mirror modules comprising reflective surfaces defining at least two corners of each polygonal cavity and a second gain bore module comprising passages, a gas reservoir being formed by a hollow space in the first modules. In one form of the gyroscope there are provided three square cavities in respective mutually orthogonal planes, each corner of each cavity being co-located with a corner of one other cavity and there being for these two co-located corners a single reflective member. Advantageously, passages forming two opposite sides of each cavity are of relatively large diameter so as to form gas reservoirs and these passages join corresponding large diameter passages of the other cavities so there are formed two opposed generally triangular gas reservoirs. The gyroscope may also advantageously be provided with a dither spring mounted equatorially relative to each one of the plurality of cavities and driven at chassis potential whilst the two electrodes are driven in antiphase. For convenience, the dither spring may be mounted in the plane of one of the electrodes and which, in use, is held at the same potential as that electrode. Each cavity may comprise two opposite passages extending generally parallel one to another and these two are both between the two electrodes and extend from near one towards the other of the two electrodes for the gas in these two passages to be longitudinally excited by the two electrodes. Particular embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a triaxial ring laser gyroscope according to the present invention; Figures 2 and 2a are alternative circuit diagrams corresponding to the embodiments shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of components of another embodiment of a triaxial ring laser gyroscope according to the present invention; Figure 4 is a perspective view of two components of the triaxial ring laser gyroscope of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a perspective view of a third component of the triaxial ring laser gyroscope of Figure 3; Figure 6 is a modular single axis ring laser gyroscope according to the present invention. Referring to Figure 1, a triaxial ring laser gyroscope indicated at 10 is formed from a cubic block 12 of a dielectric material such as Zerodur, which is a transparent material. Bores are drilled between the centres of the faces of the cubic block 12 to form three square mutually orthogonal cavities designated X, Y and Z. The three cavities X, Y and Z are each orthogonal to the axis of sensitivity to which they relate. Each of these cavities comprises two opposed bores eg. 14X, 16X, of relatively small diameter eg. 2mm, which are gain bores and two opposed bores eg. 18X and 20X of relatively large diameter eg , 15mm, which are reservoir bores. The length of each gain bore may be approximately 38mm. It can be seen that the reservoir bores 18X, 18Y and 18Z and 20X, 20Y and 20Z form two opposed triangular gas reservoirs. The mirrors of the ring laser gyroscope 10 are not shown in Figure 1 but there would be a mirror at each cavity corner, making six mirrors in all. Of these, there are three path length control mirrors which are movable so as to control the path lengths of the associated cavities and three output mirrors each of which allows a portion of the counter-rotating laser beam to leave the cavity for measurement purposes. Each of the mirrors has to provide a gas-tight seal at the cavity corners. Further details of the mirrors are given in our UK Patent Number 2076213B. Two opposed corners of the cubic block 12 are machined away symmetrically to provide surfaces which can be metallised to form electrodes 22 and 24. One such electrode 22 is clearly visible in Figure 1 and the other electrode 24 is indicated in dotted lines. It will be understood that, in practice, further portions of the cubic block 11 will be machined away to reduce weight and volume. No reservoirs are drilled towards the centre of the block 11 as these would short circuit the gain bores 14X, 14Y and 14Z and 16X, 16Y and 16Z at radio frequency, even in the presence of residual dielectric material in the centre of the block. The only other bore (not shown) would be a connection to enable the cavities to be filled with gas and for gettering. Thus the number of gas seals required is greatly reduced in comparison to a conventional DC excited ring laser gyroscope. A well known problem associated with ring laser gyroscopes is the phenomenon of lock-in. One way of overcoming this problem is to dither the ring laser gyroscope so as to impart rotation to the or each cavity. A dither ring, at chassis potential, may be placed around the block 11 of Figure 1 in an equatorial position ie. in a plane parallel to the two electrodes and mid-way between them. Consequently, the dither axis is the line which would join the two corners machined off to form the electrode surfaces. This axis is symmetrically disposed with respect to the three cavities, X, Y and Z. The dither spring may be of the vibrating counter-inertia type. In use, the cavities X, Y and Z are filled with gas containing a lasant and an RF signal is applied to the electrodes. In use, the two electrodes 22 and 24 each form one electrode of a coupling capacitor, the other electrode being the adjacent triangular reservoir formed by the reservoir bores 18X, 18Y and 18Z and 20X, 20Y and 20Z respectively. It is not necessary to metallise the reservoir bores since, in use, these are filled with plasma which acts as an electrical conductor. The operating frequency is constrained by several factors and is desirably in the range 10 to 100 MHz and preferably in the range of 20 to 30 MHz. An advantage of an equatorial dither ring is that it allows the electrodes to be driven in antiphase with respect to the chassis thereby halving the peak voltage required with respect to the chassis and easing insulation requirements as well as improving reliability. However, another practical alternative would be to mount a dither spring coplanar with one of the electrodes and to make that electrode chassis potential and to drive the other electrode with respect to the chassis. Another method for overcoming the problem of lock-in is to use magnetic mirrors in place of dither in which case either of the drive 1 methods mentioned above is applicable although antiphase driving is preferred. Information regarding such magnetic mirrors is well-known in the art and can be obtained from published UR Patent Application No.2006456A. Referring to Figure 2, a radio frequency resonant circuit 30 is shown in which a radio frequency signal is supplied via a transformer 32 to three capacitors C1, C2 and C3 connected in series. Resistors R1 - R6 are connected in parallel with the capacitor C2. The circuit 30 represents the ring laser gyroscope shown in Figure 1. The electrodes 22 and 24 form the outer plates of the capacitors C1 and C3. The other plates of the capacitor C1 and C3 are formed by the plasma in the triangular gas reservoirs formed by the reservoir bores 18X, 18Y and 18Z and 20X, 20Y and 20Z respectively. The capacitor C2 represents the capacitance of the block 12 and the resistors R1 - R6 represent the discharging gain bores 14X, 14Y, and 14Z and 16X, 16Y and 16Z respectively. Thus, in use, the ring laser gyroscope 10 forms part of a radio frequency resonant circuit. Before the gas in the cavities 12X, 12Y and 12Z iS caused to discharge, the circuit 30 has a relatively high Q factor and automatically creates the higher voltage needed to strike the discharge. Subsequently, the discharge loads the resonant circuit 30, reducing its Q factor and reduces the voltage to a level just sufficient to dissipate the radio frequency energy which is supplied. In other words, as the gain bores strike they take more current and dissipate power until an equilibrium is reached between the power being supplied and that being dissipated in the gain bores. Given a gain bore length of 38mm, at about 3 volts per mm rms gain bore drop, this gives about 160 volts peak bore voltage. The gain bores 14X, 14Y and 14Z and 16X, 16Y and 16Z are shunted by the block capacitance (capacitor C2 in Figure 2) which can be approximated by a parallel plate capacitor with triangular plates in the planes of the reservoir bore axes and having a Zerodur glass dielectric. The frequency of the resonant circuit 30 will be unstable with temperature. Therefore, the simplest way of providing the drive is to construct a self-oscillating system with the resonant circuit as the frequency determining element as is well known in the art of resonant circuit design. If the electrodes are not to be driven in antiphase with respect to the chassis it may be more convenient to use a series end-fed resonator circuit of the type well known in radio frequency technology. Such a circuit indicated at 30a is shown in Figure 2a in which a single resistor R is shown representing resistors R₁-R₆ in Figure 2. Capacitor C b represents the capacitance of the ring laser gyroscope block, typically 4pF and capacitor C c represents the series capacitances of each metallised electrode and adjacent reservoir bores, typically 6pF. A supply, typically +15V,is indicated at 33 and is fed via an rf choke 34. An rf drive signal is supplied to a transistor T, the emittor of which is connected to the OV line via a resistor R L and a capacitor C L for local decoupling. C s is a source capacitor representing a low voltage discrete component plus the collector capacitance of the transistor T. If the tank circuit C s , L, C c , C b and R is at resonance, the reactance of the inductor L cancels that of the capacitances and the impedance presented to the transistor collector is resistive with value r = V s /i s (1) Also, V s i s = V R i R , the only power dissipation of the tank circuit being in the bores and dielectric loss. Alternatively, this can be expressed as r = R(V s /V R )² (2) If the Q is much greater than one, then the circulating current in the tank coil L is much larger than either i R or i S and one can write V s xjwC s ≃V R jwC b for the value of that current. Therefore V R ≃V s (C s /C b ) (3) or using expressions (1), (2) and (3), V R ≃i s R (C b /C c ) (4). Expression (3) illustrates that C s can be chosen to give the high voltage necessary for the gas discharge even though the input voltage V s is quite modest. Typically C s would be 20 times C b . Expression (4) illustrates that for constant current feed, the voltage across the bores increases with the effective loss resistance. Consequently, when the bores are not discharging, so that R is that large value corresponding to the dielectric loss of C b , V R becomes a large voltage and initiates the discharge. On the other hand, when the bores are discharging and presenting a smaller parallel resistance, the value of V R is reduced to its working value. In reality the transistor is not a perfect current source, but its impedance can be made high enough by straightforward methods for it to be near enough a current source for practical purposes. Figures 3 to 5 relate to a modular triaxial ring laser gyroscope 35. In use, the modular triaxial ring laser gyroscope 35 operates in a similar manner to the triaxial ring laser gyroscope described with reference to Figure 1 and the resonant circuit diagram of Figure 2 also applies. The triaxial ring laser gyroscope 35 comprises two mirror modules 40, 41 and a gain bore module 42. These modules 40, 41 and 42 are all made from a material having a low coefficient of thermal expansion such as Zerodur or silica or a material which can be cast inexpensively such as Pyrex (Registered Trade Mark). Referring to Figure 4 each of the mirror modules 40 and 41 comprises a generally hemispherical casing which defines a recess 43 in which are mounted three mirrors 45, 46 and 47. The mirrors 45 - 47 are mounted in mutually orthogonal relationship. The mirrors 45 - 47 may be made of the same material as the casing of the mirror modules 40 and 41 and are coated to provide a mirror of the required quality. The top and bottom parts of the mirror modules 40 and 41 are flattened to provide surfaces which are metallised to form electrodes 48 and 50. In practice, a readout prism (not shown) would be mounted on face 52. There would be one readout prism for each cavity of the ring laser gyroscope 35. An alignment mark 54 is provided to aid in assembly of the modular gyroscope 35. Referring to Figure 5, gain bore module 42 is generally cylindrical in shape and comprises six gain bores 55 - 60 orientated as shown. The pairs 55, 58 and 57, 60 and 56, 59 of the gain bores are parallel. Figure 3 shows the mirror modules 40 and 41 and the gain bore module 42 assembled to form a modular triaxial ring laser gyroscope with the gain bore module 42 being sealed in a gas-tight manner between the mirror modules 40 and 41. The mirrors 45 - 47 in each of the mirror modules 40 and 41 are aligned with the gain bores 55 - 60 to define three square mutually orthogonal cavities in a similar manner to the triaxial ring laser gyroscope shown in Figure 1. However, in this embodiment, the vacancies indicated at 62 and 64 defined by the recesses 43 in the mirror modules 40 and 41 and the flat faces of the gain bore module 42 advantageously provide gas reservoirs adjacent to the electrodes 48 and 50. Referring now to Figure 6, a single axis ring laser gyroscope 70 is shown which comprises two mirror modules 72 and 74 and a gain bore module 76. The modules 72, 74 and 76 are each formed from a dielectric material having low coefficient of thermal expansion. Each of the mirror modules 72 and 74 comprises a flat face which is metallised to form electrodes 77 and 78. The inner surface 80 of each of the mirror modules 72 and 74 is curved and has mounted thereon two mirrors 81, 82 and 83, 84 respectively. The mirrors in each pair 81, 82 and 83, 84 are in mutually orthogonal relationship. me mirrors 81, 82 are planar and the mirrors 83, 84 are curved. A readout prism is indicated at 86. A gas-fill tube is (not shown) included on the mirror module 74. The gain bore module 76 is solid except for two parallel gain bores 90 and 92 of equal length. When assembled, the interfaces between the mirror modules 72 and 74 and the gain bore module 76 form gas-tight seals. In side view the ring laser gyroscope 70 is generally flat. The curved inner surfaces 80 of the mirror modules 72 and 74, together with the flat top and bottom faces of the gain bore module 76, define two gas reservoirs 94 and 96. On the application of a suitable RF excitation signal to the electrodes 77 and 78, a discharge is induced in the gas reservoirs 94 and 96 which results in two oppositely travelling laser beams each of which follows the square path indicated in dotted lines in Figure 6. In a manner analogous to that described with regard to the triaxial ring laser gyroscope of Figure 1, the electrodes 77 and 78 act as plates of coupling capacitors, the other plates of which are formed by the plasma in the gas reservoirs 94 and 96. It is envisaged that a biaxial modular ring laser gyroscope could be formed if the mirror modules 72 and 74 in Figure 6 were generally hemispherical each having two pairs of mirrors in mutually orthogonal relationship and if the gain bore module 76 were generally cylindrical and comprises two further gain bores in parallel to the first two. In such a biaxial ring laser gyroscope there would be two mutually orthogonal square cavities having no common corners so that eight mirrors would be required. It can be seen that modular ring laser gyroscope designs are particularly suited for use in a ring laser gyroscope according to the present invention because the gas reservoirs required near the electrodes can conveniently be provided by vacancies in the mirror modules. Attention is directed to our European patent application no. 88310005.9 (EP-A-0 320 101) of even date also entitled Ring Laser Gyroscopes in which further details of the modular configurations are included. The following table contrasts the number of gas-tight seals required in a ring laser gyroscope according to the present invention in comparison with known ring laser gyroscopes: DC EXCITED RLG RF EXCITED RLG SINGLE AXIS RLG WITH 4 MIRRORS (MONOBLOCK) TRIAXIAL RLG WITH 6 MIRRORS (MONOBLOCK) SINGLE AXIS RLG WITH 4 MIRRORS TRIAXIAL RLG WITH 6 MIRRORS MONOBLOCK MODULAR MONOBLOCK MODULAR 8 10 5 3 7 3 It can be seen that significant reductions in the number of gas-tight seals required are obtained in accordance with the present invention which obviates the need for electrodes which communicate directly with the cavity of a ring laser gyroscope. The most significant reductions are obtained when modular designs are used.

Claims: A ring laser gyroscope (10) comprising a dielectric material body, a plurality of passages (14X, 16X, 18X, 20X) in the body, a plurality of reflective members defining a polygonal laser cavity including the passages (14X, 16X, 18X, 20X) and two electrodes (22, 24) for receiving radio-frequency electrical energy and exciting gas in the cavity to induce a laser-activating discharge through the gas, characterised in that one or more passages are provided (14X,Y,Z, 16X,Y,Z, 1BX,Y,Z, 20X,Y,Z or 55 to 60) for defining one or more polygonal laser cavities (X,Y,Z) and one or more of said passages (14-18 or 55-60) included in one or all of said cavities (X,Y,Z) are between the two electrodes and extend in a direction or directions from near one towards the other of the two electrodes (22, 24, or 48, 50), for the gas in said one or more of said passages (14-18 or 55-60) to be longitudinally excited by the two electrodes (22,24 or 48, 50). A ring laser gyroscope (10) according to claim 1, wherein the two electrodes (22,24,48,50) are driven in antiphase. A ring laser gyroscope (10) according to claim 1 or 2, comprising a reservoir (18X, Y,Z and 20XYZ) for said gas adjacent to one or both of the electrodes (22,24 or 48,50). A ring laser gyroscope (10) according to claim 1, 2 or 3 in which the passages (14XYZ, 16XYZ) in which the gas is excited by the electrodes (22,24 or 48,50) are of relatively small diameter while other passages (18X, YZ, 20XYZ) are of relatively much larger diameter so as to form gas reservoirs. A ring laser gyroscope (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 4 in which the ring laser gyroscope (35) is in modular form and comprises first mirror, modules (40,41) comprising reflective surfaces (45,46,47) defining at least two corners of each polygonal cavity and a second gain bore module comprising passages (55-60), a gas reservoir (62,64) being formed by a hollow space in the first modules (40,41). A ring laser gyropscope according to any preceding claim, wherein there are three square cavities (X,Y,Z) in respect mutually orthogonal planes, each corner of each cavity being co-located with a corner of one other cavity and there being for these two co-located corners a single reflective member (45, 46, 47). A ring laser gyroscope according to claim 6 wherein passages forming two opposite sides of each cavity are of relatively large diameter so as to form gas reservoirs and these passages join corresponding large diameter passages of the other cavities so there are formed two opposed generally triangular gas reservoirs. A ring laser gyroscope according to claim 6 or 7 comprising a dither spring mounted equatorially relative to each one of the plurality of cavities and driven at chassis potential whilst the two electrodes 22, 24) are driven in antiphase. A ring laser gyroscope according to claim 6 or 7 comprising a dither spring mounted in the plane of one of the electrodes (22, 24) and which, in use, is held at the same potential as that electrode (22, 24). A ring laser gyroscope (10) according to any preceding claim, wherein each cavity comprises two opposite passages (90, 92) extending generally parallel one to another and these two are both between the two electrodes (77, 78) and extend from near one towards the other of the two electrodes (77, 78) for the gas in these two passages (90, 92) to be longitudinally excited by the two electrodes.

Inventors: GEEN, JOHN ALBERT
Applicants: BRITISH AEROSPACE PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY
Application year: 1988
Main classification: G01C19
IPC codes: H01S3, G01C19