Temporal Extent of Surface Potentials between Closely Spaced Metals

TL;DR

This study uses a torsion balance setup to measure surface potential variations between gold-coated metals, providing insights into electrostatic noise relevant for space-based gravitational wave detectors like LISA.

Contribution

It introduces an experimental method to quantify surface potential noise between closely spaced metals under conditions similar to LISA.

Findings

Measured a white noise level of 30 μV/Hz above 0.1 mHz

Surface potential variations increase at lower frequencies

Results inform noise mitigation for space-based gravitational wave detection

Abstract

Variations in the electrostatic surface potential between the proof mass and electrode housing in the space-based gravitational wave mission LISA is one of the largest contributors of noise at frequencies below a few mHz. Torsion balances provide an ideal testbed for investigating these effects in conditions emulative of LISA. Our apparatus consists of a Au coated Cu plate brought near a Au coated Si plate pendulum suspended from a thin W wire. We have measured a white noise level of $30, \uVhz$ above approximately 0.1, mHz, rising at lower frequencies, for the surface potential variations between these two closely spaced metals.