A hexagonal optical testbed for the LISA metrology system

A hexagonal optical testbed for the LISA metrology system

Kohei Yamamoto for the AEI Phasemeter team

A stringent performance requirement of 1ucycle/rtHz is allocated to the LISA phasemeter. To experimentally verify this performance over a high dynamic range without the loss of linearity, a three-signal test can be conducted, which linearly combines three beat-note signals generated pairwise from three frequency sources. At the Albert Einstein institute, we have developed an optical experiment that implements such a three signal test, named Hexagon after a hexagonal quasi-monolithic interferometer it utilizes. Besides for the phasemeter, the experiment can also provide testing for the LISA photo receivers. This talk presents the current status of the experiment's noise analysis, a photo receiver comparison and the development of a topology to extend the experiment for testing of the full LISA metrology chain. This will include features of time-delay interferometry like clock noise transfer or data stream interpolation.