English

Quantum Enhancement of the Zero-Area Sagnac Interferometer Topology for Gravitational Wave Detection

Quantum Physics 2014-11-21 v1

Abstract

Only a few years ago, it was realized that the zero-area Sagnac interferometer topology is able to perform quantum nondemolition measurements of position changes of a mechanical oscillator. Here, we experimentally show that such an interferometer can also be efficiently enhanced by squeezed light. We achieved a nonclassical sensitivity improvement of up to 8.2 dB, limited by optical loss inside our interferometer. Measurements performed directly on our squeezed-light laser output revealed squeezing of 12.7 dB. We show that the sensitivity of a squeezed-light enhanced Sagnac interferometer can surpass the standard quantum limit for a broad spectrum of signal frequencies without the need for filter cavities as required for Michelson interferometers. The Sagnac topology is therefore a powerful option for future gravitational-wave detectors, such as the Einstein Telescope, whose design is currently being studied.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1007.0574,
  title  = {Quantum Enhancement of the Zero-Area Sagnac Interferometer Topology for Gravitational Wave Detection},
  author = {Tobias Eberle and Sebastian Steinlechner and Jöran Bauchrowitz and Vitus Händchen and Henning Vahlbruch and Moritz Mehmet and Helge Müller-Ebhardt and Roman Schnabel},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1007.0574},
  year   = {2014}
}

Comments

4 pages, 4 figures