We report on the performance of the capacitive gap-sensing system of the Gravitational Reference Sensor on board the LISA Pathfinder spacecraft. From in-flight measurements, the system has demonstrated a performance, down to 1 mHz, that is ranging between 0.7 and 1.8 aF Hz(-1/2). That translates into a sensing noise of the test mass motion within 1.2 and 2.4 nm Hz(-1/2) in displacement and within 83 and 170 nrad Hz(-1/2) in rotation. This matches the performance goals for LISA Pathfinder, and it allows the successful implementation of the gravitational waves observatory LISA. A 1/f tail has been observed for frequencies below 1 mHz, the tail has been investigated in detail with dedicated in-flight measurements, and a model is presented in the paper. A projection of such noise to frequencies below 0.1 mHz shows that an improvement of performance at those frequencies is desirable for the next generation of gravitational reference sensors for space-borne gravitational waves observation.

Armano, M., Audley, H., Auger, G., Baird, J., Bassan, M., Binetruy, P., et al. (2017). Capacitive sensing of test mass motion with nanometer precision over millimeter-wide sensing gaps for space-borne gravitational reference sensors. PHYSICAL REVIEW D, 96(6) [10.1103/PhysRevD.96.062004].

Capacitive sensing of test mass motion with nanometer precision over millimeter-wide sensing gaps for space-borne gravitational reference sensors

Bassan M.;Vitale S.;
2017-09-26

Abstract

We report on the performance of the capacitive gap-sensing system of the Gravitational Reference Sensor on board the LISA Pathfinder spacecraft. From in-flight measurements, the system has demonstrated a performance, down to 1 mHz, that is ranging between 0.7 and 1.8 aF Hz(-1/2). That translates into a sensing noise of the test mass motion within 1.2 and 2.4 nm Hz(-1/2) in displacement and within 83 and 170 nrad Hz(-1/2) in rotation. This matches the performance goals for LISA Pathfinder, and it allows the successful implementation of the gravitational waves observatory LISA. A 1/f tail has been observed for frequencies below 1 mHz, the tail has been investigated in detail with dedicated in-flight measurements, and a model is presented in the paper. A projection of such noise to frequencies below 0.1 mHz shows that an improvement of performance at those frequencies is desirable for the next generation of gravitational reference sensors for space-borne gravitational waves observation.
26-set-2017
Pubblicato
Rilevanza internazionale
Articolo
Esperti anonimi
Settore FIS/01 - FISICA SPERIMENTALE
English
Armano, M., Audley, H., Auger, G., Baird, J., Bassan, M., Binetruy, P., et al. (2017). Capacitive sensing of test mass motion with nanometer precision over millimeter-wide sensing gaps for space-borne gravitational reference sensors. PHYSICAL REVIEW D, 96(6) [10.1103/PhysRevD.96.062004].
Armano, M; Audley, H; Auger, G; Baird, J; Bassan, M; Binetruy, P; Born, M; Bortoluzzi, D; Brandt, N; Caleno, M; Cavalleri, A; Cesarini, A; Cruise, Am;...espandi
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2108/211353
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