MSc thesis: Highest efficiency fiber coupling for squeezed light transport into vacuum chambers

Job Offer from January 23, 2023

Squeezed light sources have been routinely used in the past years to improve the sensitivity of gravitational-wave detectors (GWDs) beyond their shot noise limitation. The used squeezed vacuum states of light are highly susceptible to optical loss and misalignment. Therefore, a low optical loss and alignment stable transfer method might be beneficial to transfer squeezed states of light from the squeezer to the main vacuum system of a GWD.

We want to test the potential of optical fibers to transfer strongly squeezed states of light to a vacuum chamber and detect them with an in-vacuum homodyne detector, which also has to be designed.

This should allow a direct comparison to results obtained with squeezed light sources built in-vacuum to in-air squeezed light generation, which are currently better performing, and its fiber transfer to a vacuum chamber.

A reliable and straightforward transfer method for squeezed states of light could also enable the straightforward enhancement of other shot noise-limited metrology experiments.

Your tasks

  • The optical loss characterization of a transport fiber with endcaps.
  • Mechanical and electric design as well as assembly and test of an in-vacuum homodyne detector for squeezed light detection. (Optional with a tunable beam-splitting mirror).
  • Operation and modification of a squeezed light source to efficiently couple squeezed states of light to a transport fiber (see ref. below).
  • Characterization of the transfer efficiency for the squeezed states of light to compare this technique against an in-vacuum generation of squeezed light.

(Approximate work division: 40% laser lab work / 10% assembly of electric circuits / 50% computer design, simulation, and data evaluation with, e.g., Inventor, Eagle, MATLAB/Python, Gnuplot)

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Literature

Meylahn, F.; Willke, B.; Vahlbruch, H.: Squeezed States of Light for Future Gravitational Wave Detectors at a Wavelength of 1550 nm. Physical Review Letters 129 (12), 121103 (2022)

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