On the possibility of using metamaterials in a ring laser gyroscope

An approach is proposed that ensures a theoretically unlimited improvement in the sensitivity of ring laser gyroscopes (RLGs) to rotation. Basic to this approach is the filling of the optical path in an RLG (outside its gain element) with two different optical media: a conventional optical medium with a refractive index n > 1 and a so-called metamaterial with n < 0. We consider effects that limit the real sensitivity of the proposed approach.