An accelerometer system (10, 50, 150, 250, 300, 350, 450) comprising: a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (52, 152, 302, 452) configured to emit an optical beam (56, 136, 304, 456); an optical cavity system (18, 360, 408, 508) comprising an accelerometer housing (62, 164, 312, 464), a mirror (20, 60, 162, 310, 462) and a spring (64, 166, 314, 466), wherein the mirror (20, 60, 162, 310, 462) is coupled to the accelerometer housing (62, 164, 312, 464) via the spring (64, 166, 314, 466) and is configured to reflect the emitted optical beam (56, 156, 304, 456) to provide the reflected optical beam (68, 160, 308, 460), wherein the optical cavity system (18, 360, 408, 508) further comprising a quarter-wave plate (58, 158, 306, 458, 476) arranged between the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (52, 152, 302) and the mirror (20, 60, 162, 310, 462) for converting the polarization of the emitted and the reflected optical beams, wherein the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (52, 152, 302, 452) is configured to oscillate between emitting an optical beam (56, 156, 304, 456) at a first linear polarization and emitting the optical beam (56, 156, 304, 456) at a second linear polarization perpendicular to the first linear polarization in response to the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (52, 152, 302) receiving a reflected optical beam (68, 160, 308, 460) from the mirror (20, 60, 162, 310, 462) through the quarter-wave plate (58, 158, 306, 458, 476) that is indicative of motion of the mirror (20, 60, 162, 310, 462) resulting from an external acceleration acting upon the accelerometer housing (62, 164, 321, 464); wherein the optical cavity system (18, 360, 408, 508) also comprising at least one photo detector (22, 54, 154, 320) configured to receive at least a portion of at least one of the emitted optical beam (56, 156, 304, 456) and the reflected optical beam (68, 160, 308, 460) to generate an acceleration signal (ACCEL) based on the oscillation between the first linear polarization and the second linear polarization that is indicative of motion of the mirror (20, 60, 162, 310, 462) resulting from an external acceleration acting upon the accelerometer housing (62, 164, 312, 464); and an acceleration processor (14, 356, 404, 504) configured to calculate a magnitude of the external acceleration based on a frequency of the acceleration signal (ACCEL). a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (52, 152, 302, 452) configured to emit an optical beam (56, 136, 304, 456); an optical cavity system (18, 360, 408, 508) comprising an accelerometer housing (62, 164, 312, 464), a mirror (20, 60, 162, 310, 462) and a spring (64, 166, 314, 466), wherein the mirror (20, 60, 162, 310, 462) is coupled to the accelerometer housing (62, 164, 312, 464) via the spring (64, 166, 314, 466) and is configured to reflect the emitted optical beam (56, 156, 304, 456) to provide the reflected optical beam (68, 160, 308, 460), wherein the optical cavity system (18, 360, 408, 508) further comprising a quarter-wave plate (58, 158, 306, 458, 476) arranged between the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (52, 152, 302) and the mirror (20, 60, 162, 310, 462) for converting the polarization of the emitted and the reflected optical beams, wherein the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (52, 152, 302, 452) is configured to oscillate between emitting an optical beam (56, 156, 304, 456) at a first linear polarization and emitting the optical beam (56, 156, 304, 456) at a second linear polarization perpendicular to the first linear polarization in response to the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (52, 152, 302) receiving a reflected optical beam (68, 160, 308, 460) from the mirror (20, 60, 162, 310, 462) through the quarter-wave plate (58, 158, 306, 458, 476) that is indicative of motion of the mirror (20, 60, 162, 310, 462) resulting from an external acceleration acting upon the accelerometer housing (62, 164, 321, 464); wherein the optical cavity system (18, 360, 408, 508) also comprising at least one photo detector (22, 54, 154, 320) configured to receive at least a portion of at least one of the emitted optical beam (56, 156, 304, 456) and the reflected optical beam (68, 160, 308, 460) to generate an acceleration signal (ACCEL) based on the oscillation between the first linear polarization and the second linear polarization that is indicative of motion of the mirror (20, 60, 162, 310, 462) resulting from an external acceleration acting upon the accelerometer housing (62, 164, 312, 464); and an acceleration processor (14, 356, 404, 504) configured to calculate a magnitude of the external acceleration based on a frequency of the acceleration signal (ACCEL).