Abstract

The gravitational wave measurement is one of the most critical issues in fundamental physics related to the general relativism and the origin of our world. Owing to the extremely small interaction a gravitational wave antenna is composed of a large-scale interferometer of effective optical length of about 150 km. The light source for such a large scale interferometer should be frequency-stabilized ultimately. We started to develop an ultra-stabilized laser for gravitational wave detection in Japan. We are constructing a 20-m Michelson interferometer with a Fabry-Perot cavity inside each arm at National Astronomical Observatory (NAO) in Chofu, The stability of tire light source of the NAO 20-m antenna should be less than 10—18. We developed the frequency stabilized sources by combining the commercial YAG laser with ultra-high quality reference cavity through high gain feedback circuits.

© 1993 Optical Society of America