Multicolor cavity metrology

Izumi, K. et al. (2012) Multicolor cavity metrology. Journal of the Optical Society of America A: Optics Image Science and Vision, 29(10), p. 2092. (doi: 10.1364/JOSAA.29.002092)

Abstract

Long-baseline laser interferometers used for gravitational-wave detection have proven to be very complicated to control. In order to have sufficient sensitivity to astrophysical gravitational waves, a set of multiple coupled optical cavities comprising the interferometer must be brought into resonance with the laser field. A set of multi-input, multi-output servos then lock these cavities into place via feedback control. This procedure, known as lock acquisition, has proven to be a vexing problem and has reduced greatly the reliability and duty factor of the past generation of laser interferometers. In this article, we describe a technique for bringing the interferometer from an uncontrolled state into resonance by using harmonically related external fields to provide a deterministic hierarchical control. This technique reduces the effect of the external seismic disturbances by 4 orders of magnitude and promises to greatly enhance the stability and reliability of the current generation of gravitational-wave detectors. The possibility for using multicolor techniques to overcome current quantum and thermal noise limits is also discussed.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Barr, Dr Bryan
• Authors: Izumi, K., Arai, K., Barr, B., Betzwieser, J., Brooks, A., Dahl, K., Doravari, S., Driggers, J. C., Korth, W. Z., Miao, H., Rollins, J., Vass, S., Yeaton-Massey, D., and Adhikari, R. X.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
• Journal Name: Journal of the Optical Society of America A: Optics Image Science and Vision
• Publisher: Optical Society of America
• ISSN: 1084-7529
• ISSN (Online): 1520-8532