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.

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.

A spray-processable, low bandgap, and ambipolar donor-acceptor conjugated polymer.

Combining a strong donor, tris(dodecyloxy)phenyl)-dithieno[3,2-b:2',3'-d]pyrrole, with a strong acceptor, 4,8-dithien-2-yl-2lambda(4)delta(2)-benzo[1,2-c;4,5-c']bis[1,2,5]thiadiazole, has yielded the lowest bandgap, soluble, spray-processable polymer to date. The polymer has access to four different redox states and shows ambipolar behavior in OFETs. Multiple techniques, including transmission/absorption spectroscopy on SWCNTs and reflectance spectroscopy on gold were used to accurately estimate the optical bandgap at 0.5-0.6 eV, which correlates well to theoretical calculations.

Low-band-gap platinum acetylide polymers as active materials for organic solar cells.

We report on two pairs of platinum acetylide based polymers and model oligomers utilizing a 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (BTD) acceptor moiety flanked on either side by either 2,5-thienyl donor units (Pt2BTD-Th and p-PtBTD-Th) or (3,4-ethylenedioxy)-2,5-thienyl donors (Pt2BTD-EDOT and p-PtBTD-EDOT). Both oligomer/polymer pairs absorb strongly throughout the visible region; however, because the (ethylenedioxy)thiophene moiety is a stronger donor than thiophene, the latter oligomer/polymer pair has a correspondingly lower band gap and, therefore, harvests light more efficiently at longer wavelengths. p-PtBTD-Th exhibits a relatively narrow molecular weight distribution with a number-average molecular weight (Mn) of 22 kDa, while p-PtBTD-EDOT exhibits a comparable Mn of 33 kDa but has a high polydispersity index likely due to aggregation. We provide a complete report of the photophysical and electrochemical characterization of the two oligomer/polymer pairs. The photophysical studies reveal that the materials undergo relatively efficient intersystem crossing. In a discussion of the energetics of photoinduced electron transfer from the platinum polymers to [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), it is noted that while the singlet state is quenched efficiently, the triplet state is not quenched, indicating that charge generation in the photovoltaic materials must ensue from the singlet manifold. Finally, organic photovoltaic devices based on blends of p-PtBDT-Th or p-PtBDT-EDOT with PCBM were characterized under monochromatic and simulated solar (AM1.5) illumination. Optimized devices exhibit an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of approximately 0.5 V, a short-circuit current density (Isc) of approximately 7.2 mA cm(-2), and a fill factor of approximately 35%, which yields overall power conversion efficiencies of 1.1-1.4%.

Silicon beam splitter for far-infrared and terahertz spectroscopy.

Silicon beam splitters several millimeters thick offer numerous advantages over thin freestanding dielectric beam splitters. For routine spectroscopy for which resolutions of better than 1 cm(-1) are not required, a silicon beam splitter can replace several Mylar beam splitters to span the entire far-infrared region. In addition to superior long-wavelength performance that extends well into the terahertz region, the silicon beam splitter has the additional advantage that its efficiency displays little polarization dependence.

Transparent, conductive carbon nanotube films.

We describe a simple process for the fabrication of ultrathin, transparent, optically homogeneous, electrically conducting films of pure single-walled carbon nanotubes and the transfer of those films to various substrates. For equivalent sheet resistance, the films exhibit optical transmittance comparable to that of commercial indium tin oxide in the visible spectrum, but far superior transmittance in the technologically relevant 2- to 5-micrometer infrared spectral band. These characteristics indicate broad applicability of the films for electrical coupling in photonic devices. In an example application, the films are used to construct an electric field-activated optical modulator, which constitutes an optical analog to the nanotube-based field effect transistor.

Method for measuring small optical absorption coefficients with use of a Shack-Hartmann wave-front detector.

We present a method for measuring absorption at the 1 x 10(-5) cm(-1) level in high-quality optical materials. Using a Shack-Hartmann wave-front detector, thermal lensing in these materials may be measured. Then, the absorption coefficient may be estimated by fitting the observed deformation to a thermal lensing model based on the temperature dependences of the refractive index and the thermal expansion coefficient. For a particular sample of fused silica, the absorption coefficient was determined to be 1.8 +/- 0.4 x 10(-5) cm(-1). Obtaining this result requires a resolution in the optical path length better than +/- 0.1 nm.

Sensing and control in dual-recycling laser interferometer gravitational-wave detectors.

We introduce length-sensing and control schemes for the dual-recycled cavity-enhanced Michelson interferometer configuration proposed for the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO). We discuss the principles of this scheme and show methods that allow sensing and control signals to be derived. Experimental verification was carried out in three benchtop experiments that are introduced. We present the implications of the results from these experiments for Advanced LIGO and other future interferometric gravitational-wave detectors.

Dual-recycled cavity-enhanced Michelson interferometer for gravitational-wave detection.

The baseline design for an Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (Advanced LIGO) is a dual-recycled Michelson interferometer with cavities in each of the Michelson interferometer arms. We describe one possible length-sensing and control scheme for such a dual-recycled, cavity-enhanced Michelson interferometer. We discuss the principles of this scheme and derive the first-order sensing signals. We also present a successful experimental verification of our length-sensing system using a prototype tabletop interferometer. Our results demonstrate the robustness of the scheme against deviations from the idealized design. We also identify potential weaknesses and discuss possible improvements. These results as well as other benchtop experiments that we present form the basis for a sensing and control scheme for Advanced LIGO.