Optical accelerometer system

A method for measuring acceleration, the method comprising:

• generating an optical beam at a linear polarization;
• providing the optical beam in an optical cavity system comprising a mirror that is coupled to an accelerometer housing via a spring and is configured to reflect the optical beam;
• generating an acceleration signal via at least one photodetector configured to receive at least a portion of at least one of the optical beam and the reflected optical beam, the acceleration signal being indicative of motion of the mirror resulting from an external acceleration acting upon the accelerometer housing;
• and
• calculating a magnitude of the external acceleration based on comparing a frequency of the acceleration signal relative to a reference frequency.

An accelerometer system comprising:

• a plurality of optical accelerometer detection systems that each correspond to one of a plurality of orthogonal axes, each of the plurality of optical accelerometer detection systems comprising:
• a laser configured to emit an optical beam at a linear polarization that periodically transitions between a first linear polarization and a second linear polarization in response to a reflected portion of the optical beam;
• an optical cavity system comprising:
• a mirror that is coupled to an accelerometer housing via a spring and is configured to reflect the optical beam to provide the reflected optical beam;
• a quarter-wave plate arranged between the laser and the mirror and configured to convert the optical beam from one of the first and second linear polarizations to a circular-polarization and to convert the reflected optical beam from the circular-polarization to the other of the first and second linear polarizations;
• and
• at least one photodetector configured to receive at least a portion of at least one of the optical beam and the reflected optical beam to generate an acceleration signal that is indicative of motion of the mirror resulting from an external acceleration acting upon the accelerometer housing in a respective one of the plurality of orthogonal axes based on the periodic transitions between a first linear polarization and a second linear polarization of the optical beam;
• and
• an acceleration processor configured to calculate a magnitude of the external acceleration based on the acceleration signal of each of the plurality of optical accelerometer detection systems.