Transportable high-performance rotation sensors

• Applicants: Dr. Felix Bernauer; Professor Dr. Oliver Gerberding; Professorin Dr. Katharina-Sophie Isleif; Professor Dr. Simon Stellmer
• Subject Area: Geophysics ; Geodesy, Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, Geoinformatics, Cartography ; Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 553176123

Observing motion and deformation of a 3-dimensional body in a 3-dimensional space is the basic approach to problems in many scientific fields ranging from seismology and geodesy over space exploration and gravitational wave detection to navigation and structural health monitoring. Up to now, no portable sensor exists that is able to measure rotational components of ground motion that are similar or below the level of the rotational seismic background noise in the frequency range below 1 Hz. The project of the research unit RING seeks to change this situation. We propose to develop and test a passive ring-laser gyroscope (RLG) that can measure the secondary microseismic peak of the rotational background noise spectrum. To comply with a wide range of applications, a crucial design criterion will be its transportability. To reach this goal, we will use advanced optical and mechanical simulation tools and incorporate recent progress in quantum optics into hard- and software development. Specifically, we will break new ground in sensitivity achievable with transportable passive RLGs by addressing of phase noise due to backscatter, frequency noise induced by the locking scheme, mechanical instabilities and coating thermal noise. Thorough testing and performance evaluation in laboratory and field experiments will demonstrate the sensor's applicability for geophysical field studies as proposed in other projects of the RING research unit. We expect that our sensor will allow to explore the fundamental limits of ring-laser technology and that it sets new standards for ground rotation sensing with transportable instruments. The sensor will serve as an enabling technology for a wide and diverse range of scientific applications including seismology volcanology, planetary exploration, gravitational wave detection, inertial navigation and geodesy. Our sensor development is at the heart of the research unit RING because its successful implementation will allow for new discoveries with rotation sensing in geophysics and geodesy at an unprecedented sensitivity level, which is the driving overall RING objective.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• Subproject of: FOR 5939: RING: Rotational Motions in Physics, Geophysics, and Geodesy