Large Sagnac frequency splitting in a ring resonator operating at an exceptional point

In rotating ring resonators, resonant frequencies are split because of the Sagnac effect. The rotation sensitivity of the frequency splitting characterizes the sensitivity of resonator-based optical gyroscopes. In this paper, it is shown that the sensitivity of frequency splitting can be significantly enhanced in a ring resonator operating at an exceptional point (EP), which is a non-Hermitian degeneracy where two eigenvalues and the corresponding eigenmodes coalesce. As an example, a ring resonator with a periodic structure is proposed and theoretically and numerically studied. It is numerically demonstrated that in the resonator operating near an EP, the rotation-induced frequency splitting can be more than two orders greater than that in conventional ring resonators. In addition, this paper discusses the influence of the resonator loss on the measurement sensitivity of the frequency splitting and a method of rotation detection based on rotation-induced changes of eigenmodes near an EP.