A compact triaxial active vibration isolator for cryogenic suspended interferometry

authored by: S. L. Kranzhoff, A. Bertolini, M. J.C. Denissen, H. L.M.M. Janssen, B. C.T. van Bree, M. van Dael, M. Vardaro, S. Hild, Johannes Lehmann
Abstract: Suspended interferometry at cryogenic temperatures down to 10-20 K requires conductive cooling in addition to radiative cooling techniques, which is challenging due to vibrations emanating from the ground and direct force perturbations from the cryogenic system potentially acting back on the seismically isolated mirrors. In this work, the passive and active isolation performance of a triaxial cryogenic active vibration isolator designed to operate at temperatures below 10 K and ultra-high vacuum conditions with pressures below 10⁻⁹ mbar is investigated. While passive isolation of ground motion is effective for frequencies above 6.5 Hz, active suppression of motion and force disturbances can be achieved between 2.46 Hz and 21.4 Hz leading to a reduction of root-mean-square motion by one order of magnitude in the active control band. The performance limits of the current system are evaluated and compared with requirements of ETpathfinder, a prototype facility for investigating cryogenic technologies that enable the target low-frequency sensitivity improvement of the planned Einstein Telescope compared to current terrestrial gravitational-wave detectors.
Organisation(s): QuantumFrontiers
External Organisation(s): Maastricht University
National Institute for Subatomic Physics (Nikhef)
JPE
Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e)
Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
Type: Article
Journal: Classical and quantum gravity
Volume: 42
ISSN: 0264-9381
Publication date: 28.07.2025
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6382/adf0e2 (Access: Open)

BibTeX

@article{c4c64cf81174413cb74a6113d7f5abdb,
title = "A compact triaxial active vibration isolator for cryogenic suspended interferometry",
abstract = "Suspended interferometry at cryogenic temperatures down to 10-20 K requires conductive cooling in addition to radiative cooling techniques, which is challenging due to vibrations emanating from the ground and direct force perturbations from the cryogenic system potentially acting back on the seismically isolated mirrors. In this work, the passive and active isolation performance of a triaxial cryogenic active vibration isolator designed to operate at temperatures below 10 K and ultra-high vacuum conditions with pressures below 10−9 mbar is investigated. While passive isolation of ground motion is effective for frequencies above 6.5 Hz, active suppression of motion and force disturbances can be achieved between 2.46 Hz and 21.4 Hz leading to a reduction of root-mean-square motion by one order of magnitude in the active control band. The performance limits of the current system are evaluated and compared with requirements of ETpathfinder, a prototype facility for investigating cryogenic technologies that enable the target low-frequency sensitivity improvement of the planned Einstein Telescope compared to current terrestrial gravitational-wave detectors.",
keywords = "active vibration isolation, cryogenics, gravitational-wave detection, inertial sensing, interferometry, vibration-free cooling, voice coil actuation",
author = "Kranzhoff, {S. L.} and A. Bertolini and Denissen, {M. J.C.} and Janssen, {H. L.M.M.} and {van Bree}, {B. C.T.} and {van Dael}, M. and M. Vardaro and S. Hild and Johannes Lehmann",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.",
year = "2025",
month = jul,
day = "28",
doi = "10.1088/1361-6382/adf0e2",
language = "English",
volume = "42",
journal = "Classical and quantum gravity",
issn = "0264-9381",
publisher = "IOP Publishing Ltd.",
number = "15",
}