Heptonstall A, Barton M A, Bell A, Cagnoli G, Cantley C A, Crooks D R M, Cumming A, Grant A, Hammond G D, Harry G M, Hough J, Jones R, Kelley D, Kumar R, Martin I W, Robertson N A, Rowan S, Strain K A, Tokmakov K, van Veggel M
LIGO Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, 91125, USA.
Rev Sci Instrum. 2011 Jan;82(1):011301. doi: 10.1063/1.3532770.
In 2000 the first mirror suspensions to use a quasi-monolithic final stage were installed at the GEO600 detector site outside Hannover, pioneering the use of fused silica suspension fibers in long baseline interferometric detectors to reduce suspension thermal noise. Since that time, development of the production methods of fused silica fibers has continued. We present here a review of a novel CO(2) laser-based fiber pulling machine developed for the production of fused silica suspensions for the next generation of interferometric gravitational wave detectors and for use in experiments requiring low thermal noise suspensions. We discuss tolerances, strengths, and thermal noise performance requirements for the next generation of gravitational wave detectors. Measurements made on fibers produced using this machine show a 0.8% variation in vertical stiffness and 0.05% tolerance on length, with average strengths exceeding 4 GPa, and mechanical dissipation which meets the requirements for Advanced LIGO thermal noise performance.
2000年，首批采用准单片式末级的镜子悬架安装在了汉诺威郊外的GEO600探测器站点，开创了在长基线干涉探测器中使用熔融石英悬架纤维的先河，以降低悬架热噪声。自那时起，熔融石英纤维生产方法的研发一直在持续。在此，我们介绍一种基于二氧化碳激光的新型拉丝机，该拉丝机是为下一代干涉式引力波探测器生产熔融石英悬架以及用于需要低热噪声悬架的实验而开发的。我们讨论了下一代引力波探测器的公差、强度和热噪声性能要求。对使用该机器生产的纤维进行的测量表明，垂直刚度变化为0.8%，长度公差为0.05%，平均强度超过4 GPa，并且机械耗散满足高级LIGO热噪声性能的要求。
