Characterization of thermal effects in the Enhanced LIGO Input Optics

Abstract

We present the design and performance of the LIGO Input Optics subsystem as implemented for the sixth science run of the LIGO interferometers. The Initial LIGO Input Optics experienced thermal side effects when operating with 7 W input power. We designed, built, and implemented improved versions of the Input Optics for Enhanced LIGO, an incremental upgrade to the Initial LIGO interferometers, designed to run with 30 W input power. At four times the power of Initial LIGO, the Enhanced LIGO Input Optics demonstrated improved performance including better optical isolation, less thermal drift, minimal thermal lensing and higher optical efficiency. The success of the Input Optics design fosters confidence for its ability to perform well in Advanced LIGO.

References in corpus (4)

• LIGO: The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory
• Predictions for the Rates of Compact Binary Coalescences Observable by Ground-based Gravitational-wave Detectors
• DC readout experiment in Enhanced LIGO
• The upgrade of GEO600

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Advanced LIGO
• Open data from the first and second observing runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo
• DC readout experiment in Enhanced LIGO
• The Advanced LIGO Input Optics
• Angular control of optical cavities in a radiation pressure dominated regime: the Enhanced LIGO case
• Low-noise optical lattices for ultracold ${}^6$Li
• Synthetic FM triplet for AM-free precision laser stabilization and spectroscopy
• 946-nm Nd:YAG digital-locked laser at $1.1\times 10^{-16}$ in 1 s and transfer-locked to a cryogenic silicon cavity