Characterization and evasion of backscattered light in the squeezed-light enhanced gravitational wave interferometer GEO 600

Bergamin, Fabio, Lough, James, Schreiber, Emil, Grote, Hartmut ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0797-3943, Mehmet, Moritz, Vahlbruch, Henning, Affeldt, Christoph, Andric, Tomislav, Bisht, Aparna, Brinkmann, Marc, Kringel, Volker, Lück, Harald, Mukund, Nikhil, Nadji, Severin, Sorazu, Borja, Strain, Kenneth, Weinert, Michael and Danzmann, Karsten 2023. Characterization and evasion of backscattered light in the squeezed-light enhanced gravitational wave interferometer GEO 600. Optics Express 31 (23) , pp. 38443-38456. 10.1364/OE.497555

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Abstract

Squeezed light is injected into the dark port of gravitational wave interferometers, in order to reduce the quantum noise. A fraction of the interferometer output light can reach the OPO due to sub-optimal isolation of the squeezing injection path. This backscattered light interacts with squeezed light generation process, introducing additional measurement noise. We present a theoretical description of the noise coupling mechanism and we prove the model with experimental results. We propose a control scheme to achieve a de-amplification of the backscattered light inside the OPO with a consequent reduction of the noise caused by it. The scheme was implemented at the GEO 600 detector and has proven to be crucial in maintaining a good level of quantum noise reduction of the interferometer for high parametric gain of the OPO. In particular, the mitigation of the backscattered light noise helped in reaching 6 dB of quantum noise reduction [Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 041102 (2021) [CrossRef] ]. We show that the impact of backscattered-light-induced noise on the squeezing performance is phenomenologically equivalent to increased phase noise of the squeezing angle control. The results discussed in this paper provide a way for a more accurate estimation of the residual phase noise of the squeezed light field. Finally, the knowledge of the backscattered light noise coupling mechanism is a useful tool to inform the design of the squeezing injection path in terms of path stability and optical isolation.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Physics and Astronomy
Publisher:	Optica Publishing Group
ISSN:	1094-4087
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	5 December 2023
Date of Acceptance:	9 October 2023
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2023 11:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/164515

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