Reducing tilt-to-length coupling for the LISA test mass interferometer

TL;DR

This study experimentally investigates tilt-to-length coupling in a LISA-like interferometer setup, demonstrating that optimized imaging systems can meet stringent noise reduction requirements and revealing beam property dependencies.

Contribution

The paper presents the first experimental comparison of two imaging systems designed to minimize TTL coupling in LISA-like interferometers.

Findings

Both imaging systems meet the +-25 um/rad TTL requirement.

TTL coupling depends on beam waist size and location.

Theoretical and experimental analysis of beam property effects.

Abstract

Objects sensed by laser interferometers are usually not stable in position or orientation. This angular instability can lead to a coupling of angular tilt to apparent longitudinal displacement -- tilt-to-length coupling (TTL). In LISA this is a potential noise source for both the test mass interferometer and the long-arm interferometer. We have experimentally investigated TTL coupling in a setup representative for the LISA test mass interferometer and used this system to characterise two different imaging systems (a two-lens design and a four-lens design) both designed to minimise TTL coupling. We show that both imaging systems meet the LISA requirement of +-25 um/rad for interfering beams with relative angles of up to +-300 urad. Furthermore, we found a dependency of the TTL coupling on beam properties such as the waist size and location, which we characterised both theoretically and experimentally.