LIGO
This is an extract from the LIGO
website which summarises the project: "The Laser Interferometer
Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a facility dedicated
to the detection of cosmic gravitational waves and the harnessing
of these waves for scientific research. It consists of two widely
separated installations within the United States - one in Hanford
Washington and the other in Livingston, Louisiana -operated in
unison as a single observatory."
Here at the ACPO, we have been responsible for the fabrication
of a number of custom optics destined for the LIGO project. Below
is a summary of the optics we produced.
Summary of specifications
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Folding mirror |
4 |
Flat: R>+200km, -720km |
16nm (l/40) |
3.2nm (l/200) |
0.4nm |
End test mass |
4 |
Spherical: R=7400m ±150m |
10nm (l/60) |
1.6nm (l/400) |
0.2nm |
Recycling mirror |
7 |
Spherical: R=15000m +500, -100m
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5nm (l/120) |
3.2nm (l/200) |
0.4nm |
Beam splitter |
5 |
Flat: R>+200km, -720km |
16nm (l/40) |
3.2nm (l/200) |
0.4nm |
Input test mass |
12 |
Spherical: R=14540m +145, -1000m |
13nm (l/50) |
1.6nm (l/400) |
0.2nm |
A number of completed optics for LIGO
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