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Sensor noise in LISA Pathfinder: Laser frequency noise and its coupling to the optical test mass readout

M. Armano1, H. Audley2,3, J. Baird4, P. Binetruy4,*, M. Born2,3, D. Bortoluzzi5, N. Brandt6, E. Castelli7, A. Cavalleri8 et al.

A. Cesarini9, A. M. Cruise10, K. Danzmann2,3, M. de Deus Silva11, I. Diepholz2,3, G. Dixon10, R. Dolesi7, L. Ferraioli12, V. Ferroni7, E. D. Fitzsimons13, R. Flatscher6, M. Freschi11, A. García14, R. Gerndt6, L. Gesa15,16,†, D. Giardini12, F. Gibert7,17, R. Giusteri2,3, C. Grimani9, J. Grzymisch1, F. Guzman18, I. Harrison19, M.-S. Hartig2,3, G. Hechenblaikner6, G. Heinzel2,3, M. Hewitson2,3, D. Hollington20, D. Hoyland10, M. Hueller7, H. Inchauspé4,§, O. Jennrich1, P. Jetzer21, U. Johann6, B. Johlander1, N. Karnesis4, B. Kaune2,3, C. J. Killow22, N. Korsakova4, J. A. Lobo15,16,‡, J. P. López-Zaragoza15, R. Maarschalkerweerd19, D. Mance12, V. Martín15,16, L. Martin-Polo11, F. Martin-Porqueras11, J. Martino4, P. W. McNamara1, J. Mendes19, L. Mendes11, N. Meshksar12, A. Monsky23, M. Nofrarias15, S. Paczkowski2,3,∥, M. Perreur-Lloyd22, A. Petiteau4, E. Plagnol4, J. Ramos-Castro24, J. Reiche2,3, F. Rivas25, D. I. Robertson22, G. Russano7,¶, J. Sanjuan26, J. Slutsky27, C. F. Sopuerta15, F. Steier23, T. Sumner20,26, D. Texier11, J. I. Thorpe27, D. Vetrugno7, S. Vitale7, V. Wand23, G. Wanner3,2, H. Ward22, P. J. Wass20,28, W. J. Weber7, L. Wissel2,3, A. Wittchen2,3, and P. Zweifel12

  • 1European Space Technology Centre, European Space Agency, Keplerlaan 1, 2200 AG Noordwijk, The Netherlands
  • 2Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert-Einstein-Institut), 30167 Hannover, Germany
  • 3Leibniz Universität Hannover, 30167 Hannover, Germany
  • 4Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Astroparticule et Cosmologie, F-75013 Paris, France
  • 5Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Trento, via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, and Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics and Application/INFN
  • 6Airbus Defence and Space, Claude-Dornier-Strasse, 88090 Immenstaad, Germany
  • 7Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Trento and Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics and Application/INFN, 38123 Povo, Trento, Italy
  • 8Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, CNR-Fondazione Bruno Kessler, I-38123 Povo, Trento, Italy
  • 9DISPEA, Università di Urbino Carlo Bo, Via S. Chiara, 27 61029 Urbino/INFN, Italy
  • 10The School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
  • 11European Space Astronomy Centre, European Space Agency, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
  • 12Institut für Geophysik, ETH Zürich, Sonneggstrasse 5, CH-8092, Zürich, Switzerland
  • 13The UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, United Kingdom
  • 14City University of Applied Sciences, Flughafenallee 10, 28199 Bremen, Germany
  • 15Institut de Ciències de l’Espai (ICE, CSIC), Campus UAB, Carrer de Can Magrans s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
  • 16Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC), C/ Gran Capità 2-4, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
  • 17isardSAT SL, Marie Curie 8-14, 08042 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
  • 18Texas A&M University, 701 H.R. Bright Bldg, College Station, Texas 77843-3141, USA
  • 19European Space Operations Centre, European Space Agency, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
  • 20High Energy Physics Group, Physics Department, Imperial College London, Blackett Laboratory, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BW, United Kingdom
  • 21Physik Institut, Universität Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland
  • 22SUPA, Institute for Gravitational Research, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
  • 23OHB System AG, Universitätsallee 27-29, 28359 Bremen, Germany
  • 24Department d’Enginyeria Electrònica, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
  • 25Universidad Loyola, Departament of Quantitative Methods, Avenida de las Universidades s/n, 41704 Dos Hermanas, Sevilla, Spain
  • 26Department of Physics, 2001 Museum Road, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA
  • 27Gravitational Astrophysics Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
  • 28Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, MAE-A, P.O. Box 116250, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA

  • *Deceased 30 March 2017
  • †Deceased 29 May 2020
  • ‡Deceased 30 September 2012
  • §Present address: Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Heidelberg, Philosophenweg 16, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
  • ∥sarah.paczkowski@aei.mpg.de
  • Present address: INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, I-80131 Napoli, Italy.
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Phys. Rev. D 109, 042003 – Published 16 February, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.109.042003

Abstract

The LISA Pathfinder (LPF) mission successfully demonstrated the feasibility of the technology needed for the future space borne gravitational wave observatory LISA. A key subsystem under study was the laser interferometer, which measured the changes in relative distance in between two test masses (TMs). It achieved a sensitivity of 32.0−1.7+2.4  fm/Hz, which was significantly better than the prelaunch tests. This improved performance allowed direct observation of the influence of laser frequency noise in the readout. The differences in optical path lengths between the measurement and reference beams in the individual interferometers of our setup determined the level of this undesired readout noise. Here, we discuss the dedicated experiments performed on LPF to measure these differences with high precision. We reached differences in path length difference between (368±5)  μm and (329.6±0.9)  μm which are significantly below the required level of 1 mm or 1000  μm. These results are an important contribution to our understanding of the overall sensor performance. Moreover, we observed varying levels of laser frequency noise over the course of the mission. We provide evidence that these do not originate from the laser frequency stabilization scheme which worked as expected. Therefore, this frequency stabilization would be applicable to other missions with similar laser frequency stability requirements.

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Phys. Rev. D 109, 042003– Published 16 February, 2024
  • Received 2 October 2023
  • Accepted 9 January 2024
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Open access publication funded by the Max Planck Society.

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