Ground-based gravitational-wave detectors are based on high precision laser interferometry. One promising technique to improve the detectors sensitivity is the detuning of an optical cavity, which enhances the signal at around certain frequencies for
target astronomical sources. The detuning, however, involves technical noise due to an asymmetry of the control sidebands, which includes photo-detector noise and oscillator-phase noise. Here, we introduce a solution to reduce the two kinds of excess noise using an amplitude-modulation sideband that compensates the asymmetry. The solution is planned to be implemented in the Japanese second-generation gravitational-wave detector KAGRA.
This paper shows a novel method to precisely measure the laser power using an optomechanical system. By measuring a mirror displacement caused by the reflection of an amplitude modulated laser beam, the number of photons in the incident continuous-wa
ve laser can be precisely measured. We have demonstrated this principle by means of a prototype experiment uses a suspended 25 mg mirror as an mechanical oscillator coupled with the radiation pressure and a Michelson interferometer as the displacement sensor. A measurement of the laser power with an uncertainty of less than one percent (1 sigma) is achievable.
Grating reflectors have been repeatedly discussed to improve the noise performance of metrological applications due to the reduction or absence of any coating material. So far, however, no quantitative estimate on the thermal noise of these reflectiv
e structures exists. In this work we present a theoretical calculation of a grating reflectors noise. We further apply it to a proposed 3rd generation gravitational wave detector. Depending on the grating geometry, the grating material and the temperature we obtain a thermal noise decrease by up to a factor of ten compared to conventional dielectric mirrors. Thus the use of grating reflectors can substantially improve the noise performance in metrological applications.
Here we report on the realization of a Michelson-Sagnac interferometer whose purpose is the precise characterization of the motion of membranes showing significant light transmission. Our interferometer has a readout noise spectral density (imprecisi
on) of 3E-16 m/sqrt(Hz) at frequencies around the fundamental resonance of a SiN_x membrane at about 100 kHz, without using optical cavities. The readout noise demonstrated is more than 16 dB below the peak value of the membranes standard quantum limit (SQL). This reduction is significantly higher than those of previous works with nano-wires [Teufel et al., Nature Nano. 4, 820 (2009); Anetsberger et al., Nature Phys. 5, 909 (2009)]. We discuss the meaning of the SQL for force measurements and its relation to the readout performance and conclude that neither our nor previous experiments achieved a total noise spectral density as low as the SQL.
We demonstrate the optical coupling of two cavities without light transmission through a substrate. Compared to a conventional coupling component, that is a partially transmissive mirror, an all-reflective coupler avoids light absorption in the subst
rate and therefore associated thermal problems, and even allows the use of opaque materials with possibly favourable mechanical and thermal properties. Recently, the all-reflective coupling of two cavities with a low-efficiency 3-port diffraction grating was theoretically investigated. Such a grating has an additional (a third) port. However, it was shown that the additional port does not necessarily decrease the bandwidth of the coupled cavities. Such an all-reflective scheme for cavity coupling is of interest in the field of gravitational wave detection. In such detectors light that is resonantly enhanced inside the so-called power-recycling cavity is coupled to (kilometre-scale) Fabry-Perot resonators representing the arms of a Michelson interferometer. In order to achieve a high sensitivity over a broad spectrum, the Fabry-Perot resonators need to have a high bandwidth for a given (high) power build-up. We realized such an all-reflective coupling in a table-top experiment. Our findings are in full agreement with the theoretical model incorporating the characteristics of the 3-port grating used, and therefore encourage the application of all-reflective cavity couplers in future gravitational wave detectors.
We report on the first demonstration of a fully suspended 10m Fabry-Perot cavity incorporating a waveguide grating as the coupling mirror. The cavity was kept on resonance by reading out the length fluctuations via the Pound-Drever-Hall method and em
ploying feedback to the laser frequency. From the achieved finesse of 790 the grating reflectivity was determined to exceed 99.2% at the laser wavelength of 1064,nm, which is in good agreement with rigorous simulations. Our waveguide grating design was based on tantala and fused silica and included a ~20nm thin etch stop layer made of Al2O3 that allowed us to define the grating depth accurately during the fabrication process. Demonstrating stable operation of a waveguide grating featuring high reflectivity in a suspended low-noise cavity, our work paves the way for the potential application of waveguide gratings as mirrors in high-precision interferometry, for instance in future gravitational wave observatories.
Quantum fluctuations in the radiation pressure of light can excite stochastic motions of mechanical oscillators thereby realizing a linear quantum opto-mechanical coupling. When performing a precise measurement of the position of an oscillator, this
coupling results in quantum radiation pressure noise. Up to now this effect has not been observed yet. Generally speaking, the strength of radiation pressure noise increases when the effective mass of the oscillator is decreased or when the power of the reflected light is increased. Recently, extremely light SiN membranes with high mechanical Q-values at room temperature have attracted attention as low thermal noise mechanical oscillators. However, the power reflectance of these membranes is much lower than unity which makes the use of advanced interferometer recycling techniques to amplify the radiation pressure noise in a standard Michelson interferometer inefficient. Here, we propose and theoretically analyze a Michelson-Sagnac interferometer that includes the membrane as a common end mirror for the Michelson interferometer part. In this new topology, both, power- and signal-recycling can be used even if the reflectance of the membrane is much lower than unity. In particular, signal-recycling is a useful tool because it does not involve a power increase at the membrane. We derive the formulas for the quantum radiation pressure noise and the shot-noise of an oscillator position measurement and compare them with theoretical models of the thermal noise of a SiN membrane with a fundamental resonant frequency of 75 kHz and an effective mass of 125 ng. We find that quantum radiation pressure noise should be observable with a power of 1 W at the central beam splitter of the interferometer and a membrane temperature of 1 K.
