Compact Optomechanical Seismic Sensors for LIGO

该奖项支持进一步开发新型紧凑型光学机械地震传感技术，致力于提供对地震现象的高灵敏度测量。地震活动和缓慢的振动会影响在低压(真空)和低温(低温)环境中运行的悬挂式平台。该项目将开发一种光学机械地震传感器原型，使该团队能够在实验室条件下调查其性能。了解仪器的灵敏度和带宽参数，以及它在真空悬浮平台上的功能，将有助于确定它们在未来引力波观测站的预期行为，例如LIGO Voyager，这是本研究的目标应用。然而，这种类型的设备可能会在科学和工业应用中受益，如地震学、大地测量学、振动的精确测量、通常是惯性传感和惯性导航，在这些领域，高灵敏度的紧凑型仪器是有影响的。此外，该奖项将支持该研究小组对国际LIGO科学合作和整个引力波社区的参与和贡献；允许我们的学生在STEM领域进行培训，并帮助教育当地社区与引力波相关的主题。该项目的目标是为激光干涉仪引力波观测站(LIGO)开发紧凑和高灵敏度的光学机械地震传感器。建议的传感器将很容易与真空环境兼容，并瞄准100 MHz以下的高质量测量。它还计划在LIGO科学合作(LSC)的相关平台上测试第一批原型。此外，该团队还将研究如何使用与低温环境兼容的材料制造这些传感器。该项目在地面引力波天文学的背景下引入了涉及惯性传感和通过激光干涉测量进行高精度位移测量的新技术。此外，这项研究将为低温兼容设备的开发铺平道路，这些设备可以安装在下一代引力波天文台上。将新技术发展到可移植和可部署的水平，在STEM领域为未来的实验物理学家和工程专业人员的培训提供了广泛的相关跨学科方面。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award supports further development of novel compact optomechanical seismic sensing technologies that strive to provide highly sensitive measurements of seismic phenomena. Seismic activity and slow vibrations impact suspended platforms that operate in environments of low pressure (vacuum) and low temperatures (cryogenics). This project will develop a prototype optomechanical seismic sensor that will allow the team to investigate its performance under laboratory conditions. Understanding the instrument parameters of sensitivity and bandwidth, and its functionality on a suspended platform in vacuum, will help determine their expected behavior in future gravitational wave observatories, such as LIGO Voyager, which is the target application of this research. However, this type of device will likely benefit other areas in science and industrial applications such as seismology, geodesy, precision measurements of vibrations, generally inertial sensing and inertial navigation, where high sensitivity compact instruments are impactful. Furthermore, this award will support the participation and contributions of this research group to the international LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the gravitational wave community at large; allowing the training of our students in STEM areas and helping to educate the local community in topics related to gravitational waves. This project targets the development of compact and highly sensitive optomechanical seismic sensors for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). The proposed sensors will be readily compatible with vacuum environments and aim at high-quality measurements below 100 mHz. It is also planned to test first prototypes on relevant platforms within the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC). In addition, the team will investigate the fabrication of these sensors with materials compatible with cryogenic environments. This project introduces novel technologies involving inertial sensing and high precision displacement measurements via laser interferometry within the context of ground-based gravitational wave astronomy. Furthermore, this research will pave the way for the development of cryogenic-compatible devices that could be installed in future generation gravitational wave observatories. Advancing novel technologies to levels where they become portable and can be deployed offers a wide variety of relevant interdisciplinary aspects within STEM areas for the training of future experimental physicists and engineering professionals.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.