Demonstration of the Zero-Crossing Phasemeter with a LISA Test-bed Interferometer

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a LISA-like interferometric phase measurement system using commercially available instruments, focusing on phase timing and reconstruction for high fringe rates and low signal levels in a test-bed setup.

Contribution

It introduces a demonstration of a zero-crossing phasemeter for LISA-like signals, showcasing phase measurement capabilities with practical instruments.

Findings

Successful phase measurement of LISA-like signals at high fringe rates

Effective phase reconstruction at low signal levels

Validation of the zero-crossing phasemeter approach

Abstract

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is being designed to detect and study in detail gravitational waves from sources throughout the Universe such as massive black hole binaries. The conceptual formulation of the LISA space-borne gravitational wave detector is now well developed. The interferometric measurements between the sciencecraft remain one of the most important technological and scientific design areas for the mission. Our work has concentrated on developing the interferometric technologies to create a LISA-like optical signal and to measure the phase of that signal using commercially available instruments. One of the most important goals of this research is to demonstrate the LISA phase timing and phase reconstruction for a LISA-like fringe signal, in the case of a high fringe rate and a low signal level. We present current results of a test-bed interferometer designed to produce an optical LISA-like fringe signal previously discussed in the literature.