Patent ID: 8379216

Claim:
A gyrolaser-comprising at least one ring-shaped optical cavity comprising at least three mirrors, a solid state amplifying medium pumped by a laser diode whose optical emission power is determined by a current supply source, the cavity and the amplifying medium being such that two contra-rotating optical modes propagate in opposite directions to each other within the optical cavity, the gyrolaser being a class B gyrolaser, the gyrolaser also comprising means of measuring the difference in optical frequency existing between the two optical modes, wherein the gyrolaser comprises: a. means of measuring the total optical power circulating in the optical cavity, these means of measuring the total optical power comprising: i. two photo-detectors onto which are sent a fraction of the contra-rotating optical modes; ii. obtaining a summed signal by summing electronic signals from the photo-detectors; and b. a first feedback loop acting on the current of the laser diode to control the current delivered by the supply source in such a way as to maintain the total optical power substantially constant, the summed signal from the two photo-detectors controlling the value of the current; and c. wherein the first feedback loop is optimized to operate in a first frequency band substantially centered on a relaxation frequency of the laser and of width 1/(4.pi.T.sub.1), T.sub.1 being the response time of the population inversion in the amplifying medium.