US optical chip gyroscope gets 2,000-fold sensitivity boost

Researchers at UC Santa Barbara and Caltech built a chip-scale optical gyroscope that detects rotation as slow as 37 degrees per hour, nearly 2,000 times slower than their earlier silicon nitride design. The device uses a ring-shaped optical circuit with a quality factor above 163 million and is compatible with standard CMOS manufacturing.

• Gyroscope detects 37°/hour rotation versus 72,000°/hour in the previous design
• Resonator quality factor exceeds 163 million, with photons stored about 100 ns
• Sensing circuit measures 24 mm; packaged device is a few centimeters wide
• It remains a lab prototype and has not directly measured Earth's rotation