The output mode-cleaner cavity is a small monolithic optical cavity used to “clean” the laser beam going out of the interferometer: only the Gaussian mode of the beam, which contains the imprint of the gravitational waves, is transmitted by this cavity. This picture shows such a 6-cm long cavity being characterized at LAPP in June 2014.
Credits: The Virgo Collaboration/LAPP
Album: Instruments – Laser&Optics
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The laser beam of the Virgo interferometer is generated onto these two optical benches and sent inside the interferometer towards the beam-splitter mirror.
Credits: Cyril Frésillon/Virgo/Photothèque CNRS
Album: Instruments – Laser&Optics
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The researcher is checking the laser beam alignment on a mirror of an optical bench. The infrared beam is not visible by human eyes, a dedicated visualisation card allows to see the beam position.
Credits: Cyril Frésillon/Virgo/Photothèque CNRS
Album: Instruments – Laser&Optics
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The researcher is using a tool to visualize the laser beam in the clean room where the laser beam is generated. The Virgo laser light being infrared, it is not visible with naked eyes.
Credits: Cyril Frésillon/Virgo/Photothèque CNRS
Album: Instruments – Laser&Optics
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The researchers are preparing the optical bench to be inserted inside the vacuum enclosure and suspended to the mechanical attenuator on top of the enclosure, called minitower. A clean area has been built around the minitower to keep the optical elements out of dust.
Credits: Cyril Frésillon/Virgo/Photothèque CNRS
Album: Instruments – Laser&Optics
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In order to improve the vacuum in hhe 3-km tubes of Advanced Virgo, cryotraps have been installed at both ends of the tubes. Here the cryotrap at the north end prevents the residual water molecules to go from the tower to the tube. In the tower, a mirror is suspended to a superattenuator.
Credits: Cyril Frésillon/Virgo/Photothèque CNRS
Album: Instruments – Infrastructures
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Optical elements (lenses and mirrors) installed on an optical bench suspended and put in vacuum. The larger elements are used to reduce the size of the laser beam going out of the interferometer from a few centimeters down to less than a millimeter. The other optical elements are used to bring and focalize the beam onto sensors as photodiodes and cameras.
Credits: Cyril Frésillon/Virgo/Photothèque CNRS
Album: Instruments – Laser&Optics
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The coating of the Virgo mirrors, designed to have the required reflectivity and high quality mechanical properties, is designed, made and characterized in a French lab from CNRS, Laboratoire des Matériaux Avancés, located close to Lyon.
Credits: Cyril Frésillon/LMA/Photothèque CNRS ?
Album: Instruments – Laser&Optics
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