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Squeezed laser will bring gravitational waves to the light of day


Measuring at the limits of the laws of nature – this is the challenge which researchers repeatedly take up in their search for gravitational waves. The interferometers they use here measure with such sensitivity that a particular quantum phenomenon of light – shot noise – limits the measuring accuracy. With the "squeezed light" method scientists from the Max Planck Society and the Leibniz University Hannover likewise use quantum physics in a countermove in order to remove the interfering effect. The new type of laser light improves the measuring accuracy of the gravitational wave detector GEO600 by around 50 percent and thus increases its effective sensitivity. This is the first time this technology has been used outside of a test laboratory anywhere in the world. The results will be published in the specialist journal Nature Physics, online on September 11, 2011.


Some 50 years after the development of the first lasers, the technology of "squeezed light" can be used to generate a completely new quality of laser light. The light from a squeezed laser radiates much more calmly than light from a conventional laser source. "Thanks to the squeezed laser, we were able to increase the measuring sensitivity of GEO600 to 150%," says Hartmut Grote, who heads the detector operation. "The new light source fulfils all requirements as expected." In future, this technology could be used to even double the measuring accuracy. In the search for the almost undetectable gravitational waves, this increase in sensitivity is an important step to their direct detection.


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Lees verder: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-09-laser-...tional-day.html


Bron: PHYSOrg