Speaker
Mark Beker
(Nikhef, National Institute for Subatomic Physics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Description
The current interferometric gravitational wave detectors are being upgraded to what are termed ‘2nd generation' devices. Sensitivities will be increased by an order of magnitude and these new instruments are expected to uncover the field of gravitational astronomy. A main challenge in this endeavor is the mitigation of noise induced by seismic motion. Detailed studies with Virgo show that seismic noise can be re-injected into the dark fringe signal. For example, laser beam jitter and backscattered light noise limits the sensitivity of the interferometer.
We will focus on short superattenuators based on compact inverted pendulums in combination with geometric antisprings in order to obtain at least 40 dB ( > 10 Hz) of attenuation in six degrees of freedom. Low frequency resonances (< 0.5 Hz) are damped by using an elaborate control system based on input from LVDTs and accelerometers. Such systems are under development for the seismic attenuation of optical benches operated both in air and vacuum. The design and realization of attenuator and control systems will be discussed, while performance and commissioning results will be presented. We also describe how future implementation of similar seismic attenuation technology will improve advanced detector designs.
Authors
Mark Beker
(Nikhef, National Institute for Subatomic Physics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Mathieu Blom
(Nikhef, National Institute for Subatomic Physics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Co-authors
Eric Hennes
(Nikhef, National Institute for Subatomic Physics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Frans Mul
(VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Dr
Henk-Jan Bulten
(Nikhef, National Institute for Subatomic Physics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Prof.
Johannes van den Brand
(Nikhef, National Institute for Subatomic Physics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Martin Doets
(Nikhef, National Institute for Subatomic Physics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
