Optomechanical Cooling and Inertial Sensing at Low Frequencies

An inertial sensor design is proposed in this paper to achieve high sensitivity and large dynamic range in the subhertz-frequency regime. High acceleration sensitivity is obtained by combining optical cav-ity readout systems with monolithically fabricated mechanical resonators. A high-sensitivity heterodyne interferometer simultaneously monitors the test mass with an extensive dynamic range for low-stiffness resonators. The bandwidth is tuned by optical feedback cooling to the test mass via radiation pressure inter-action using an intensity-modulated laser. The transfer gain of the feedback system is analyzed to optimize system parameters towards the minimum cooling temperature that can be achieved. To practically imple-ment the inertial sensor, we propose a dynamic cooling mechanism to improve cooling efficiency while operating at low optical power levels. The overall system layout presents an integrated design that is compact and lightweight.

Automated summary

This paper proposes an inertial sensor design that achieves high sensitivity and large dynamic range in the subhertz-frequency regime. It combines optical cavity readout systems with monolithically fabricated mechanical resonators to achieve high acceleration sensitivity. A high-sensitivity heterodyne interferometer is used to monitor the test mass with an extensive dynamic range for low-stiffness resonators. The bandwidth is tuned by optical feedback cooling to the test mass via radiation pressure interaction using an intensity-modulated laser. The overall system layout presents an integrated design that is compact and lightweight.