CaltechAUTHORS
Published May 1, 2021 | Version Accepted Version
Journal Article Open

Point absorbers in Advanced LIGO

Creators

  • 1. ROR icon California Institute of Technology
  • 2. ROR icon Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory
  • 3. ROR icon California State University, Fullerton
  • 4. ROR icon Columbia University
  • 5. ROR icon Louisiana State University
  • 6. ROR icon Christopher Newport University
  • 7. ROR icon University of Oregon
  • 8. ROR icon Syracuse University
  • 9. ROR icon University of Minnesota
  • 10. ROR icon Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • 11. ROR icon Stanford University
  • 12. ROR icon Missouri University of Science and Technology
  • 13. ROR icon Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics
  • 14. ROR icon Leibniz University Hannover
  • 15. ROR icon University of Tokyo
  • 16. ROR icon University of Western Australia
  • 17. ROR icon University of Birmingham
  • 18. ROR icon University of the Balearic Islands
  • 19. ROR icon University of Glasgow
  • 20. ROR icon Cardiff University
  • 21. ROR icon University of Mississippi
  • 22. ROR icon University of Florida
  • 23. ROR icon Pennsylvania State University
  • 24. ROR icon Kenyon College
  • 25. ROR icon University of British Columbia
  • 26. ROR icon University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
  • 27. ROR icon Australian National University
  • 28. ROR icon Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
  • 29. ROR icon Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • 30. ROR icon University of Portsmouth
  • 31. ROR icon University of Sheffield
  • 32. ROR icon Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
  • 33. ROR icon Monash University
  • 34. ROR icon The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
  • 35. ROR icon University of Washington
  • 36. ROR icon Universität Hamburg
  • 37. ROR icon Concordia University Wisconsin

Abstract

Small, highly absorbing points are randomly present on the surfaces of the main interferometer optics in Advanced LIGO. The resulting nanometer scale thermo-elastic deformations and substrate lenses from these micron-scale absorbers significantly reduce the sensitivity of the interferometer directly though a reduction in the power-recycling gain and indirect interactions with the feedback control system. We review the expected surface deformation from point absorbers and provide a pedagogical description of the impact on power buildup in second generation gravitational wave detectors (dual-recycled Fabry–Perot Michelson interferometers). This analysis predicts that the power-dependent reduction in interferometer performance will significantly degrade maximum stored power by up to 50% and, hence, limit GW sensitivity, but it suggests system wide corrections that can be implemented in current and future GW detectors. This is particularly pressing given that future GW detectors call for an order of magnitude more stored power than currently used in Advanced LIGO in Observing Run 3. We briefly review strategies to mitigate the effects of point absorbers in current and future GW wave detectors to maximize the success of these enterprises.

Additional Information

© 2021 Optical Society of America. Received 28 January 2021; revised 31 March 2021; accepted 31 March 2021; posted 7 April 2021 (Doc. ID 419689); published 30 April 2021. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) for the construction and operation of the LIGO Laboratory and aLIGO as well as the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) of the United Kingdom, and the Max-Planck-Society (MPS) for support of the construction of aLIGO. Additional support for aLIGO was provided by the Australian Research Council. The authors acknowledge the LIGO Scientific Collaboration Fellows program for additional support. LIGO was constructed by the California Institute of Technology and Massachusetts Institute of Technology with funding from the NSF, and operates under cooperative agreement PHY-1764464. aLIGO was built under award PHY-0823459. This paper carries LIGO Document Number LIGO-P1900287. Funding. National Science Foundation (NSF) (PHY-0823459, PHY-1764464). Data Availability. Data underlying the results presented in this paper are not publicly available at this time but may be obtained from the authors upon reasonable request. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Attached Files

Accepted Version - 2101.05828.pdf

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2101.05828.pdf

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Additional details

Identifiers

Eprint ID
109390
Resolver ID
CaltechAUTHORS:20210604-111536306

Related works

Describes
https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.05828 (URL)

Funding

Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
Max Planck Society
Australian Research Council
LIGO Scientific Collaboration
NSF
PHY-0823459
NSF
PHY-1764464

Dates

Created
2021-06-07
Created from EPrint's datestamp field
Updated
2021-11-16
Created from EPrint's last_modified field

Caltech Custom Metadata

Caltech groups
LIGO , Physics Department , Physics Department
Other Numbering System Name
LIGO Document
Other Numbering System Identifier
P1900287