Implementation of armlocking with a delay of 1 second in the presence of Doppler shifts

Abstract

LISA relies on several techniques to reduce the initial laser frequency noise in order to achieve an interferometric length measurement with an accuracy of 10pm/. LISA will use ultra-stable reference cavities as a first step to reduce the laser frequency noise. In a second step the frequency will be stabilized to the LISA arms which provide a better reference in the frequency band of interest. We present experimental results demonstrating Arm locking with LISA-like light travel times and Doppler shifts. We also integrated this system with a LISA-like pre-stabilization system using our ultra-stable cavities. The addition of realistic Doppler shifts led to further refinements of the arm locking controllers compared to the controller architecture discussed in the past. A first experimental result of the new controller is also presented. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.