09/17 More Laser Power for Gravitational Wave Detectors

After the first measurement of a gravitational wave and further detections in the first two observation runs of the US gravitational wave detectors LIGO, the increase in detector sensitivity has been in progress since August. As one of the first upgrades neoLASE installed an amplifier module to increase the laser power. For this purpose, the 35 W laser system currently in use was expanded by a neoVAN amplifier module, thus increasing the laser power up to 80 W. The, for the special application modified amplifier was qualified at the Albert Einstein Institute in Hanover before installing in the LIGO Livingston detector. Early next year, the second LIGO detector in Hanford will be equipped with the additional amplifier module. A neoVAN amplifier module of the 100 W class is expected to be used for the next observation run in the VIRGO detector in Pisa. “We are pleased that our laser amplifiers enable the sensitivity of the detectors to be increased in a simple way, and therefore expand the range of gravitational wave astronomy,” says neoLASE CEO Dr. Maik Frede.

29. 6 月 2017