title: Laser power stabilization for second-generation gravitational wave detectors.
abstract: We present results on the power stabilization of a Nd:YAG laser in the frequency band from 1 Hz to 100 kHz. High-power, low-noise photodetectors are used in a dc-coupled control loop to achieve relative power fluctuations down to 5 x 10(-9) Hz(-1/2) at 10 Hz and 3.5 x 10(-9) Hz(-1/2) up to several kHz, which is very close to the shot-noise limit for 80 mA of detected photocurrent on each detector. We investigated and eliminated several noise sources such as ground loops and beam pointing. The achieved stability level is close to the requirements for the Advanced LIGO gravitational wave detector.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (Albert-Einstein-Institut) and Universität Hannover, Hannover, Germany. frank.seifert@aei.mpg.de
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Seifert
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kwee
authors.forename: Michèle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heurs
authors.forename: Benno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Willke
authors.forename: Karsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Danzmann