Geometric tilt-to-length coupling in precision interferometry: mechanisms and analytical descriptions

authored by

Marie-Sophie Hartig, Sönke Schuster, Gudrun Wanner

Abstract

Tilt-To-length (TTL) coupling is a technical term for the cross-coupling of angular or lateral jitter into an interferometric phase signal. It is an important noise source in precision interferometers and originates either from changes in the optical path lengths or from wavefront and clipping effects. Within this paper, we focus on geometric TTL coupling and categorise it into a number of different mechanisms for which we give analytic expressions. We then show that this geometric description is not always sufficient to predict the TTL coupling noise within an interferometer. We, therefore, discuss how understanding the geometric effects allows TTL noise reduction already by smart design choices. Additionally, they can be used to counteract the total measured TTL noise in a system. The presented content applies to a large variety of precision interferometers, including space gravitational wave detectors like LISA.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Gravitation Physics
QuantumFrontiers

External Organisation(s)

Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)

Type

Article

Journal

Journal of Optics

Volume

24

ISSN

2040-8978

Publication date

05.05.2022

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials, Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1088/2040-8986/ac675e (Access: Open)