A laser interferometer accelerometer for vibration sensitive cryogenic experiments

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel, self-calibrating laser interferometer accelerometer designed for cryogenic environments, capable of detecting ultra-low vibrations with high sensitivity and stability down to 12 K.

Contribution

The authors developed a compact, self-calibrating cryogenic accelerometer using a Michelson interferometer, addressing calibration and temperature stability issues for cryogenic experiments.

Findings

Achieved sensitivity of 3.38×10^{-11} m/√Hz at 1 Hz at 300 K

Operates stably down to 12 K with minimal visibility loss

Demonstrated suitability for vibration monitoring in cryogenic experiments

Abstract

Monitoring motion originating from ultra low-temperature cooling systems like cryocoolers is important for vibration sensitive cryogenic experiments like KAGRA. Since no commercial cryogenic accelerometers are available, we developed a compact self-calibrating accelerometer with a Michelson interferometer readout for cryogenic use. Change in calibration factor and drop in interferometer output originating from temperature drop were the main concerns which were tackled. Sensitivity of $3.38\times10^{-11}$ m/$\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$ at 1 Hz was achieved at 300 K. The accelerometer was tested inside the KAGRA cryostat; showed stable operation down to 12 K in 0.1-100 Hz band with only 1% visibility drop. Our accelerometer can be employed in low vibration cryogenic environment for a multitude of applications.