The advanced LIGO input optics.

The advanced LIGO gravitational wave detectors are nearing their design sensitivity and should begin taking meaningful astrophysical data in the fall of 2015. These resonant optical interferometers will have unprecedented sensitivity to the strains caused by passing gravitational waves. The input optics play a significant part in allowing these devices to reach such sensitivities. Residing between the pre-stabilized laser and the main interferometer, the input optics subsystem is tasked with preparing the laser beam for interferometry at the sub-attometer level while operating at continuous wave input power levels ranging from 100 mW to 150 W. These extreme operating conditions required every major component to be custom designed. These designs draw heavily on the experience and understanding gained during the operation of Initial LIGO and Enhanced LIGO. In this article, we report on how the components of the input optics were designed to meet their stringent requirements and present measurements showing how well they have lived up to their design.

Thermal effects in the Input Optics of the Enhanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory interferometers.

We present the design and performance of the LIGO Input Optics subsystem as implemented for the sixth science run of the LIGO interferometers. The Initial LIGO Input Optics experienced thermal side effects when operating with 7 W input power. We designed, built, and implemented improved versions of the Input Optics for Enhanced LIGO, an incremental upgrade to the Initial LIGO interferometers, designed to run with 30 W input power. At four times the power of Initial LIGO, the Enhanced LIGO Input Optics demonstrated improved performance including better optical isolation, less thermal drift, minimal thermal lensing, and higher optical efficiency. The success of the Input Optics design fosters confidence for its ability to perform well in Advanced LIGO.

Adaptive control of modal properties of optical beams using photothermal effects.

We present an experimental demonstration of adaptive control of modal properties of optical beams. The control is achieved via heat-induced photothermal actuation of transmissive optical elements. We apply the heat using four electrical heaters in thermal contact with the element. The system is capable of controlling both symmetrical and astigmatic aberrations providing a powerful means for in situ correction and control of thermal aberrations in high power laser systems. We demonstrate a tunable lens with a focusing power varying from minus infinity to -10 m along two axes using SF57 optical glass. Applications of the proposed system include laser material processing, thermal compensation of high laser power radiation, and optical beam steering.

Aerogel waveplates.

Optical transmission measurements were made on 98% porosity silica aerogel samples under various degrees of uniaxial strain. Uniaxially compressed aerogels exhibit large birefringence, proportional to the amount of compression, up to the 15% strain studied. The birefringence is mostly reversible and reproducible through multiple compression-decompression cycles. Our study demonstrates that uniaxially strained high porosity aerogels can be used as tunable waveplates in a broad spectral range.