The automatic alignment system of GEO 600

Grote, H. et al. (2002) The automatic alignment system of GEO 600. Classical and Quantum Gravity, 19(7), 1849 -1855. (doi: 10.1088/0264-9381/19/7/384)

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Publisher's URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0264-9381/19/7/384

Abstract

This paper gives an overview of the automatic mirror alignment system of the modecleaner and main interferometer of the GEO 600 gravitational wave detector. In order to achieve the required sensitivity of the detector, the eigenmodes of all optical cavities have to be aligned with respect to the incoming beams (or vice versa) and kept aligned for long measuring periods. Moreover the beam spots have to be centred on the mirrors to minimize coupling of residual angular mirror motion into changes of the optical path length. An overview of the principles and setup for the automatic alignment is given, and first results of the modecleaner and 1200 m cavity alignment system are presented, including the error-point spectra of mirror angular motions, which are smaller than 10(- 8) rad Hz(-1/2) below 10 Hz.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Casey, Dr Morag and Robertson, Dr David and Hough, Professor James and Ward, Professor Henry and Strain, Professor Kenneth
Authors: Grote, H., Heinzel, G., Freise, A., Gossler, S., Willke, B., Luck, H., Ward, H., Casey, M., Strain, K., Robertson, D., Hough, J., and Danzmann, K.
Subjects:Q Science > QC Physics
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
Research Centre:College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy > Institute for Gravitational Research
Journal Name:Classical and Quantum Gravity
ISSN:0264-9381
ISSN (Online):1361-6382

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