Multiple beam coherent combination via an optical ring resonator.

Future gravitational wave detectors (GWDs) require low noise, single frequency, continuous wave lasers with excellent beam quality and powers in excess of 500 W. Low noise laser amplifiers with high spatial purity have been demonstrated up to 300 W. For higher powers, coherent beam combination can overcome scaling limitations. In this Letter we introduce a new, to the best of our knowledge, combination scheme that uses a bow-tie resonator to combine three laser beams with simultaneous spatial filtering performance.

Machine learning for sensing with a multimode exposed core fiber specklegram sensor.

Fiber specklegram sensors (FSSs) traditionally use statistical methods to analyze specklegrams obtained from fibers for sensing purposes, but can suffer from limitations such as vulnerability to noise and lack of dynamic range. In this paper we demonstrate that deep learning improves the analysis of specklegrams for sensing, which we show here for both air temperature and water immersion length measurements. Two deep neural networks (DNNs); a convolutional neural network and a multi-layer perceptron network, are used and compared to a traditional correlation technique on data obtained from a multimode fiber exposed-core fiber. The ability for the DNNs to be trained against a random noise source such as specklegram translations is also demonstrated.

Observing the optical modes of parametric instability.

Parametric instability (PI) is a phenomenon that results from resonant interactions between optical and acoustic modes of a laser cavity. This is problematic in gravitational wave interferometers where the high intracavity power and low mechanical loss mirror suspension systems create an environment where three-mode PI will occur without intervention. We demonstrate a technique for real-time imaging of the amplitude and phase of the optical modes of PI yielding, to the best of the authors' knowledge, the first ever images of this phenomenon which could form part of active control strategies for future detectors.

Differential wavefront sensing and control using radio-frequency optical demodulation.

Differential wavefront sensing is an essential technique for optimising the performance of many precision interferometric experiments. Perhaps the most extensive application of this is for alignment sensing using radio-frequency beats measured with quadrant photodiodes. Here we present a new technique that uses optical demodulation to measure such optical beats at high resolutions using commercial laboratory equipment. We experimentally demonstrate that the images captured can be digitally processed to generate wavefront error signals and use these in a closed loop control system for correct wavefront errors for alignment and mode-matching a beam into an optical cavity to 99.9%. This experiment paves the way for the correction of even higher order errors when paired with higher order wavefront actuators. Such a sensing scheme could find use in optimizing complex interferometers consisting of coupled cavities, such as those found in gravitational wave detectors, or simply just for sensing higher order wavefront errors in heterodyne interferometric table-top experiments.

Ultrafast 3.5 µm fiber laser.

We report, to the best of our knowledge, the first mode-locked fiber laser to operate in the femtosecond regime well beyond 3 µm. The laser uses dual-wavelength pumping and nonlinear polarization rotation to produce 3.5 µm wavelength pulses with minimum duration of 580 fs at a repetition rate of 68 MHz. The pulse energy is 3.2 nJ, corresponding to a peak power of 5.5 kW.

Bayesian Inference for Gravitational Waves from Binary Neutron Star Mergers in Third Generation Observatories.

Third generation (3G) gravitational-wave detectors will observe thousands of coalescing neutron star binaries with unprecedented fidelity. Extracting the highest precision science from these signals is expected to be challenging owing to both high signal-to-noise ratios and long-duration signals. We demonstrate that current Bayesian inference paradigms can be extended to the analysis of binary neutron star signals without breaking the computational bank. We construct reduced-order models for ∼90-min-long gravitational-wave signals covering the observing band (5-2048 Hz), speeding up inference by a factor of ∼1.3×10^{4} compared to the calculation times without reduced-order models. The reduced-order models incorporate key physics including the effects of tidal deformability, amplitude modulation due to Earth's rotation, and spin-induced orbital precession. We show how reduced-order modeling can accelerate inference on data containing multiple overlapping gravitational-wave signals, and determine the speedup as a function of the number of overlapping signals. Thus, we conclude that Bayesian inference is computationally tractable for the long-lived, overlapping, high signal-to-noise-ratio events present in 3G observatories.

Modal decomposition of complex optical fields using convolutional neural networks.

Recent studies have shown convolutional neural networks (CNNs) can be trained to perform modal decomposition using intensity images of optical fields. A fundamental limitation of these techniques is that the modal phases cannot be uniquely calculated using a single intensity image. The knowledge of modal phases is crucial for wavefront sensing, alignment, and mode matching applications. Heterodyne imaging techniques can provide images of the transverse complex amplitude and phase profiles of laser beams at high resolutions and frame rates. In this work, we train a CNN to perform modal decomposition using simulated heterodyne images, allowing the complete modal phases to be predicted. This is, to our knowledge, the first machine learning decomposition scheme to utilize complex phase information to perform modal decomposition. We compare our network with a traditional overlap integral and center-of-mass centering algorithm and show that it is both less sensitive to beam centering and on average more accurate in our simulated images.

Optical lock-in camera for gravitational wave detectors.

Knowledge of the intensity and phase profiles of spectral components in a coherent optical field is critical for a wide range of high-precision optical applications. One of these is interferometric gravitational wave detectors, which rely on the optical beats between these fields for precise control of the experiment. Here we describe an optical lock-in camera and show that it can be used to record optical beats at MHz or greater frequencies with higher spatial and temporal resolution than previously possible. This improvement is achieved using a Pockels cell as a fast optical switch to transform each pixel on a sCMOS array into an optical lock-in amplifier. We demonstrate that the optical lock-in camera can record fields with 2 Mpx resolution at 10 Hz with a sensitivity of -62 dBc when averaged over 2s.

High dynamic range thermally actuated bimorph mirror for gravitational wave detectors.

Adaptive optics are crucial for overcoming the fabrication limits on mirror curvature in high-precision interferometry. We describe a low-cost thermally actuated bimorph mirror with 200 mD linear response, which meets dynamic range and low aberration requirements for the ${\rm{A}} + $A+ upgrade of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). Its deformation and operation limits were measured and verified against finite element simulation.

Actively Q-switched dual-wavelength pumped Er3+ :ZBLAN fiber laser at 3.47 µm.

We demonstrate the first actively Q-switched fiber laser operating in the 3.5 µm regime. The dual-wavelength pumped system makes use of an Er3+ doped ZBLAN fiber and a germanium acousto-optic modulator. Robust Q-switching saw a pulse energy of 7.8 µJ achieved at a repetition rate of 15 kHz, corresponding to a peak power of 14.5 W.

New energy-transfer upconversion process in Er3+:ZBLAN mid-infrared fiber lasers.

We report a new energy-transfer process in erbium doped ZBLAN glass, which is critical for optimizing the operation of lasers that use the 3.5 µm band 4F9/2 to 4I9/2 transition. The magnitude of this energy-transfer process is measured for two different doping levels in Er3+:ZBLAN and the requirement for low doping in these lasers established.

Short-pulse actively Q-switched Er:YAG lasers.

We report the shortest duration pulses obtained to date from an actively Q-switched Er:YAG laser pumped by a low spectral and spatial brightness laser diode. The 14.5 ns, 6 mJ pulses were obtained using a 1470 nm laser diode end-pumped co-planar folded zigzag slab architecture. We also present an analytical model that accurately predicts the pulse energy-duration product achievable from virtually all Q-switched Er:YAG lasers and high repetition rate quasi-three-level Q-switched lasers in general.

Compact cavity-dumped Q-switched Er:YAG laser.

We report a compact cavity-dumped Q-switched Er:YAG laser that produces pulses with 4.5 ns full width at half-maximum duration and 10 mJ energy. To the best of our knowledge, the resulting 2 MW peak power is the highest reported to date from a 1645 nm Er:YAG laser.

Versatile and widely tunable mid-infrared erbium doped ZBLAN fiber laser.

We report on a long wavelength emitting rare earth doped fiber laser with the emission centered at 3.5 µm and tunable across 450 nm. The longest wavelength emission was 3.78 µm which is the longest emission from a fiber laser operating at room temperature. In a simple optical arrangement employing dielectric mirrors for feedback, the laser was capable of emitting 1.45 W of near diffraction limited output power at 3.47 µm. These emission characteristics complement the emissions from quantum cascade lasers and demonstrate how all infrared dual wavelength pumping can be used to access high lying rare earth ion transitions that have previously relied on visible wavelength pumping.

Overview of Advanced LIGO adaptive optics.

This is an overview of the adaptive optics used in Advanced LIGO (aLIGO), known as the thermal compensation system (TCS). The TCS was designed to minimize thermally induced spatial distortions in the interferometer optical modes and to provide some correction for static curvature errors in the core optics of aLIGO. The TCS is comprised of ring heater actuators, spatially tunable CO2 laser projectors, and Hartmann wavefront sensors. The system meets the requirements of correcting for nominal distortion in aLIGO to a maximum residual error of 5.4 nm rms, weighted across the laser beam, for up to 125 W of laser input power into the interferometer.

Mid-infrared fiber lasers at and beyond 3.5 µm using dual-wavelength pumping.

We report the first, to the best of our knowledge, erbium-doped zirconium-fluoride-based glass fiber laser operating well beyond 3 µm with significant power. This fiber laser achieved 260 mW in CW at room temperature. The use of two different wavelength pump sources allows us to take advantage of the long-lived excited states that would normally cause a bottleneck, and this enables maximum incident optical-to-optical efficiency of 16% with respect to the total incident pump power. Both output power and efficiency are an order of magnitude improvement over similar lasers demonstrated previously. The fiber laser operating at 3.604 µm also exhibited the longest wavelength of operation obtained to date for a room temperature, nonsupercontinuum fiber laser.

Roadmap on optical sensors.

Optical sensors and sensing technologies are playing a more and more important role in our modern world. From micro-probes to large devices used in such diverse areas like medical diagnosis, defence, monitoring of industrial and environmental conditions, optics can be used in a variety of ways to achieve compact, low cost, stand-off sensing with extreme sensitivity and selectivity. Actually, the challenges to the design and functioning of an optical sensor for a particular application requires intimate knowledge of the optical, material, and environmental properties that can affect its performance. This roadmap on optical sensors addresses different technologies and application areas. It is constituted by twelve contributions authored by world-leading experts, providing insight into the current state-of-the-art and the challenges their respective fields face. Two articles address the area of optical fibre sensors, encompassing both conventional and specialty optical fibres. Several other articles are dedicated to laser-based sensors, micro- and nano-engineered sensors, whispering-gallery mode and plasmonic sensors. The use of optical sensors in chemical, biological and biomedical areas is discussed in some other papers. Different approaches required to satisfy applications at visible, infrared and THz spectral regions are also discussed.

Cryogenic, high power, near diffraction limited, Yb:YAG slab laser.

A cryogenic slab laser that is suitable for scaling to high power, while taking full advantage of the improved thermo-optical and thermo-mechanical properties of Yb:YAG at cryogenic temperatures is described. The laser uses a conduction cooled, end pumped, zigzag slab geometry resulting in a near diffraction limited, robust, power scalable design. The design and the initial characterization of the laser up to 200W are presented.

Mitigating stimulated Brillouin scattering in multimode fibers with focused output via wavefront shaping.

The key challenge for high-power delivery through optical fibers is overcoming nonlinear optical effects. To keep a smooth output beam, most techniques for mitigating optical nonlinearities are restricted to single-mode fibers. Moving out of the single-mode paradigm, we show experimentally that wavefront-shaping of coherent input light to a highly multimode fiber can increase the power threshold for stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) by an order of magnitude, whilst simultaneously controlling the output beam profile. The SBS suppression results from an effective broadening of the Brillouin spectrum under multimode excitation, without broadening of transmitted light. Strongest suppression is achieved with selective mode excitation that gives the broadest Brillouin spectrum. Our method is efficient, robust, and applicable to continuous waves and pulses. This work points toward a promising route for mitigating detrimental nonlinear effects in optical fibers, enabling further power scaling of high-power fiber systems for applications to directed energy, remote sensing, and gravitational-wave detection.

Impact of upconverted scattered light on advanced interferometric gravitational wave detectors.

Second generation gravitational wave detectors are being installed in a number of locations globally. These long-baseline, Michelson interferometers increase the sensitivity between 10 and 40 Hz by many orders of magnitude compared with first generation instruments. Control of non-linear noise coupling from scattered light fields is critical to achieve low frequency performance. In this paper we investigate the requirements on the attenuation of scattered light using a novel time-domain analysis and two years of seismic data from the LIGO Livingston Observatory.