Rotating photonic crystals: A medium for compact optical gyroscopes

Abstract

The effect of rotation of a photonic crystal that contains a set of microcavities is studied using the formulation of electrodynamics in rotating media. A new manifestation of the Sagnac effect is observed. It is shown that the phase shift or frequency difference between rotation-codirected and rotation-counterdirected propagations depends on a set of parameters not previously reported. The use of the new configuration for designing compact optical gyroscopes is studied and discussed.