The two interferometers of the Laser Interferometry Gravitaional-wave Observatory (LIGO) recently detected gravitational waves from the mergers of binary black hole systems. Accurate calibration of the output of these detectors was crucial for the observation of these events, and the extraction of parameters of the sources. The principal tools used to calibrate the responses of the second-generation (Advanced) LIGO detectors to gravitational waves are systems based on radiation pressure and referred to as Photon Calibrators. These systems, which were completely redesigned for Advanced LIGO, include several significant upgrades that enable them to meet the calibration requirements of second-generation gravitational wave detectors in the new era of gravitational-wave astronomy. We report on the design, implementation, and operation of these Advanced LIGO Photon Calibrators that are currently providing fiducial displacements on the order of 10−18 m/Hz with accuracy and precision of better than 1 %.
@article{arxiv.1608.05055,
title = {The Advanced LIGO Photon Calibrators},
author = {S. Karki and D. Tuyenbayev and S. Kandhasamy and B. P. Abbott and T. D. Abbott and E. H. Anders and J. Berliner and J. Betzwieser and H. P. Daveloza and C. Cahillane and L. Canete and C. Conley and J. R. Gleason and E. Goetz and J. S. Kissel and K. Izumi and G. Mendell and V. Quetschke and M. Rodruck and S. Sachdev and T. Sadecki and P. B. Schwinberg and A. Sottile and M. Wade and A. J. Weinstein and M. West and R. L. Savage},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1608.05055},
year = {2016}
}