Researchers believe that the world's smallest gyroscope could be created with the help of light waves. The smallest gyroscope could be developed with a pair of light waves wherein one zips clockwise and the other counterclockwise around a microscopic track.

A team of applied physicists is confident that this essential technology will pave the way for creation of a new generation of phenomenally compact gyroscope-based navigation systems.

"We have found a new detection scheme that may lead to the world's smallest gyroscope. Though these so-called optical gyroscopes are not new, our approach is remarkable both in its super-small size and potential sensitivity", said Li Ge, a physicist at the Graduate Center and Staten Island College, City Univ. of New York.

The results are published by Ge and his colleagues in Optica. Gyroscopes are very important for number of technologies, including inertial guidance systems known to monitor an object's motion and orientation. Space probes, satellites, and rockets are able to accurately control flight due to these systems.

The new optical gyroscope involves light waves first pumped into the optical cavity. This gives rise to the production of light waves that travel in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions. Researchers had to carefully design the shape of the optical cavity to control where both waves would exit.

The researchers have called for further studies to look at the possibility that many modes, or light paths, exist simultaneously in the cavity. There are many ways in which their far-field emission patterns may change to cause a reduction of the sensitivity to rotation. Work is on to devise different methods to gain control over this effect.