Heater 1= 72.8; 80.6

Heater 2= 69.5; 80.8

Heater 3= 70; 83.2

Heater 4= 70.6; 78.7

Heater 5= 69.9; 80.6

Heater 6= 71.1; 78.2

Heater 7= 68.5; 76.8

Heater 8= 70.1; 82.8

FROSTI assembly began today. After a final set of RGA scans were taken, the vacuum chamber was vented and the reflectors were removed. The chamber was then resealed and pumped down again. 

Today we completed the installation of the Macor hardware and heater elements between the two reflector halves. Tomorrow we will route, bundle, and terminate the power and sensor cables. 

The FLIR and test mass stand-in have been transferred into the cleanroom. A software test will be run as soon as we get an ethernet cable long enough to reach into the cleanroom where the camera is set up. Once this is finished, the FLIR will be moved aside for construction of the FROSTI! When completed, the camera will be placed back into position for in-air optical testing.

Summary

Following Wednesday's cleanroom cleaning [333], we proceeded to vent the vacuum chamber, remove the heater elements and their mount structure, and install the FROSTI reflectors. The reflectors are the final components to undergo RGA testing before the FROSTI prototype can be assembled. After installing the reflectors, we pumped the chamber back down and initiated a 48-hour 125 C bake.

Vacuum Vent

At ~1:00 pm, we shut off power to all eight of the FROSTI heater elements. Prior to shutoff, all were operating in vacuum at roughly 300 C. We then waited approximately 30 minutes for the elements' temperatures to fall below 50 C.

At this point, we isolated the RGA volume from the main volume by closing both gate valves, leaving the RGA volume to continue to be pumped through the bypass line. We then backfilled the main volume via the needle valve connected to one of the 2.75" ports. Once the pressures had equalized, we removed the chamber lid via our usual procedure (requiring only a small amount of flathead-screwdriver prying) and extracted the heater element assembly.

Reflector Assembly

We then removed the FROSTI reflectors from their protective packaging (for the very first time) on the cleanroom tabletop. We tested the fit of the Macor and stainless steel hardware in the reflectors' tapped holes. The Macor standoffs and bolts appear to fit perfectly. However, the 1/4-20 tapped holes for joining the two reflector halves are too shallow by ~1/4". As a temporary fix, we used some on-hand stainless steel washers (which had already been cleaned and baked) to securely fasten the two halves together. In the final assembly we will replace these with slightly shorter 1/4-20 vented bolts.

Pumpdown and Bake

The two fastened reflector halves were placed inside the chamber, sitting on top of the two mounting legs (see attached photos). We then reinstalled the lid. In order to rough the main volume, we isolated the RGA volume from the pumpline (by closing the bypass line valve), shut down the pumps, and then backfilled the pumpline via the manual vent valve on the turbo pump.

Once the pressures had equalized, we opened the 6" gate valve separating the pumpline from the main volume and powered on the roughing pump. Once the main volume pressure fell below 0.5 Torr, we powered on the turbo pump as well. The main volume pressure reached 5e-6 Torr within ~30 minutes, consistent with previous experience, and was continuing to slowly fall.

Lastly, we initiated a 125 C bake-out of the entire system following our usual procedure. We plan to run this bake for 48 hours (i.e., through the end of the day Friday).

cleaning cleanroom and particle count

• 11:50 am: ran zero count test on particle counter
• 11:55 am: started particle count
  • zone 3:
    • 0.3 u: 1787
    • 0.5 u: 581
    • 1.0 u: 166
• zone 4:
  • 0.3 u: 623
  • 0.5 u: 290
  • 1.0 u: 124
• 12:17 pm: began surface check and wipedown, including softwalls
• 12:25 pm: started vacuuming the floor
• 12:36 pm: finished vacuuming the floor
• 12:44 pm: started mopping the floor
• 12:57 pm: finished mopping the floor
• 12:58 pm: started cleaning the buckets
• 12:59 pm: started mopping with IPA wipes
• 1:05 pm: finished mopping with IPA wipes
• 1:06 pm: changed sticky floor mats
• 1:08 pm: started particle count
  • zone 3:
    • 0.3 u: 1621
    • 0.5 u: 581
    • 1.0 u: 332
• zone 4:
  • 0.3 u: 1080
  • 0.5 u: 457
  • 1.0 u: 249

The replacement door for the HEPA garment cabinet arrived last week, and was installed on Thursday. However, it looks like there's a small gap between the door and where the hinge is attached to the cabinet frame. No screws were provided with the replacement door. If we want to perform any adjustments, we have to be very careful; the screws break very easily.

On Thursday we installed the power conditioning/distribution equipment and networking equipment in the new 1129 rack. The hardware is identical to the setup in the 1119 rack and includes:

• Tripp Lite SU5KRT3UTF - 208V, 5kVA on-line UPS with 120V transformer
• CyberPower PDU20M2F12R - metered power distribution unit, (14) NEMA 5-20R
• Ubiquiti USW-Pro-48 - 48 port 10Gbps network switch

The UPS is connected to a 208V NEMA 6-30R outlet in the overhead cable tray, which is on the building's "standby" (backup power) circuit. An 8-ft L6-30 extension cord has been ordered to permanently run the power cable through the cable tray.

The network switch will be connected to a Cat6 cable that was recently run by ITS from the 1119 rack, allowing the lab's LAN to be extended into 1129. This Ethernet link remains to be tested.

I ended the bake of the UHV system (that began on Monday) at 6:23 pm today by switching OFF both PID controllers. The heaters elements were run at max power (24 V DC / 200 mA per element) during this bake, and I left them powered at the same level.

At the time, the instrument readings were as follows:

• Left high-limit controller: 138 C
• Right high-limit controller: 128 C
• Left PID controller: 100 C
• Right PID controller: 100 C
• Main volume pressure: 8.17e-7 Torr
• RGA volume pressure: 4.63e-7 Torr

I reproduced Cao's CE beamsplitter code (see below for example plots). I received the current info on the beamsplitter parameters for A+ and A# from GariLynn also. The next steps are to perform a similar power loss analysis on the anticipated A# beamsplitter.

Below is the proposed schematic for FROSTI optical testing, chosen so enough space is allotted for prototype assembly.

Steps to be taken include:

1. Reconstruct FLIR staging apparatus
2. Move test mass stand-in to cleanroom
3. Mark FLIR camera position on cleanroom optical table at correct distance
4. Run ethernet cable into cleanroom
5. Move FLIR aside to allow for more assembly space
6. Upon assembly completion, reposition FLIR onto optical table again

Tentative plan is to begin setup early next week.

cleaning cleanroom and particle count

• 5:10 pm: ran zero count test on particle counter
• 5:14 pm: started particle count

  NOTE: initial counts are significantly above allowed limit. ~10 times larger than ISO class 5 standard in the smallest size range. Realized partway through ceiling tile changes that the power/lights for some of the hepa fans in the ceiling frame had been turned off. May explain this high number. Have since turned fans back back on.

  • zone 3:
    • 0.3 u: 109208
    • 0.5 u: 16337
    • 1.0 u: 581
• zone 4:
  • 0.3 u: 51340
  • 0.5 u: 9228
  • 1.0 u: 581
• 5:33 pm: started replacing ceiling tiles
• 6:25 pm: began surface check and wipedown, including softwalls
• 6:33 pm: started vacuuming the floor
• 6:45 pm: finished vacuuming the floor
• 6:45 pm: started mopping the floor
• 6:50 pm: finished mopping the floor
• 6:52 pm: started cleaning the buckets
• 6:53 pm: started mopping with IPA wipes
• 6:58 pm: finished mopping with IPA wipes
• 6:59 pm: changed sticky floor mats
• 7:00 pm: started particle count
  • zone 3:
    • 0.3 u: 5404
    • 0.5 u: 1413
    • 1.0 u: 41
• zone 4:
  • 0.3 u: 1704
  • 0.5 u: 332
  • 1.0 u: 166

Summary

Today I finished implementing an RTS model to read out the integrated FROSTI RTDs (temperature sensors) via the CyMAC. The model is named "MSC" and is located at cymac:/opt/rtcds/usercode/models/c1msc.mdl. We successfully tested it with the heater elements operating in vacuum at low power (12 VDC), finding them to reach an average steady-state temperature of 160 C.

From the cymac host, the MEDM control screen can be accessed with the terminal command "sitemap" (from any directory).

Measurement Technique

Each FROSTI heater element [299] contains an internal two-wire RTD placed near the front emitting surface, which enables the temperature of the blackbody emitter to be directly monitored. From the measured temperature and the emissivity of the uncoated aluminum nitride surface (known to be ~1 in the IR), the radiated source-plane power can also be estimated.

The resistance of each RTD is measured via a ratiometric technique. The RTDs are powered in series with a 1 kΩ reference resistor located inside the readout chassis [305], whose temperature is not changing. The signal is obtained by taking the ratio of the voltage difference across each individual RTD to the voltage difference across the reference resisitor. The advantage of this technique is that the ratio of  the voltage differences is insensitive to changes in the current through the resistors (since they are all in series; see [271] for wiring diagram).

Implementation Detail

The signal flow is shown in Attachment 1. The eight RTD signals enter through ADC channels 0-7, along with the reference resistor signal on channel 8. The first set of filter modules apply a calibration gain to convert the signals from raw ADU counts to units of input-referred voltage. The ratio of each RTD signal to the reference resistor signal is then taken. The second set of filter modules multiply the voltage-difference ratios by the resistance of the reference resistor, 1 kΩ ± 0.01%, to obtain the RTD resistances in physical units of ohms.

Finally, a freeform math module is used to invert the quadratic relation between each RTD's resistance and temperature. The final signals passed to the third set of filter modules are the RTD temperatures in physical units of degrees C. The temperatures of the tungsten RTDs are estimated assuming TCR coefficients of A=0.0030 C^-1 (±10%) and B=1.003E-6 C^-2, which were provided by the manufacturer.

One DAC channel is used to provide the excitation voltage for the RTD measurement, which is visible on the far right of the control screen. At its maximum output voltage of +10 V, the DAC can drive a maximum current of 10 mA.

After further modification of the RTD readout chassis (i.e. adding resistors, placing reference resistor in front of RTDs), here are the following direct measurements:

RTD 1: 0.484 V

RTD 2: 0.486 V

RTD 3: 0.503 V

RTD 4: 0.474 V

RTD 5: 0.495 V

RTD 6: 0.483 V

RTD 7: 0.476 V

RTD 8: 0.510 V

Reference: 5.847 V

Here are the Cymac signal readings:

RTD 1: 74

RTD 2: 67

RTD 3: 73

RTD 4: 45

RTD 5: 82

RTD 6: 75

RTD 7: 70

RTD 8: 71

Reference: 884

The one (possible) discrepancy here is the readout for RTD 4 via Cymac, since it's signal reading is ~30 counts lower than the others. I do not believe this is a wiring issue due to the direct measurements taken.

After updating the wiring in the RTD Chassis, a signal is now seen at each ADC input. However, there seems to be a discrepancy between the voltages I measured out with the multimeter (see below). Next steps include:

• Finish final debugging
• Calibrate ADC inputs with known voltage source (likely to use DAC).

Voltage Readings:

RTD 1: 0.576 V

RTD 2: 0.578 V

RTD 3: 0.598 V

RTD 4: 0.563 V

RTD 5: 0.477 V

RTD 6: 0.463 V

RTD 7: 0.456 V

RTD 8: 0.491 V

Reference Resistor: 5.463 V

Total Voltage: 9.665 V

Took more data today and the chamber and elements are showing an even lower HC level than we have gotten before. It is safe to say that the elements are not contaminated and out gassing HC into the chamber.

Heater 1= 73.6; 81.8

Heater 2= 70.4; 82.1

Heater 3= 71; 84.5

Heater 4= 71.5; 80

Heater 5= 70.5; 81.7

Heater 6= 72; 79.4

Heater 7= 69.2; 78.2

Heater 8= 71.1; 84.2

Below is the data for the most recent bake. I believe the chamber is cleaner than it is actually showing as the RGA data was still getting lower while the data was being taken. I will take the data again tomorrow just in case. Still, the data shows that the chamber is basically as clean as it was before bake 10 and this means further power testing can proceed.

Helium leak tested the chamber again today to check if the sealant changed anything. The two primary target flanges from last time have improved significantly with the flange from the RGA on the cross now being below 2e-14. While the turbo pump flange was leaking at a rate of 4e-13. Much better than what it has been before.

I performed another continuity test on the RTD chassis wiring, and everything seems to be set up correctly. The chassis should be ready for installation.

[Jon, Tyler, Aiden, Shane, Pooyan, Michael, Cynthia, Luke]

On Wednesday, we completed long list of work towards making the new lab (1129) fully operational and enabling the next phase of FROSTI testing. 

Cabinet Installation

Three new VWR cabinets with sliding glass doors were installed in 1129. Each unit measures 48" (W) x 22" (D) x 84" (H) and sits along the back wall (see attachment 1). The 350-lb. cabinets were laid in place by Facilities on Monday and permanentized on Wednesday. Work included:

• Earthquake anchoring to the masonry wall
• Sliding glass doors leveled
• Shelving installed
• Wiping down of interior and exterior surfaces with IPA wipes

Server Rack Installation

A new Tripp Lite 42U open-frame rack was laid in place in 1129 and anchored to the floor (see attachment 1). This rack will house all of our general-purpose and simulation computers, which will be relocated from the 1119 rack at a later time.

Lab Clean-Up

Following installation of the new cabinets and rack, we proceeded to organize and clean both labs. Work included:

• Moved parts and equipment into permanent storage in 1129 cabinets
• Wiped down surfaces in 1119 and 1129 with polypropylene IPA wipes
• HEPA-vacuumed floors of 1119 and 1129
• Mopped floor in 1119 with Liquinox solution
• Installed new sticky mats in 1119 and 1129
• Regular cleanroom cleaning and particle counts (see 302)
• Positioned new stainless steel gowning bench outside the cleanroom (see attachment 2)

At this point, the only piece of lab equipment still to be delivered is a HEPA garment cabinet for reusing our (semi-disposable) bunny suits. It is schedule to arrive in mid-February and will sit outside the cleanroom in 1119, in the former location of the HEPA flow bench.

cleaning cleanroom and particle count

• 2:03 pm: changed sticky floor mats
• 2:05 pm: started particle count
  • zone 3:
    • 0.3 u: 4863
    • 0.5 u: 1205
    • 1.0 u: 872
• zone 4:
  • 0.3 u: 1953
  • 0.5 u: 789
  • 1.0 u: 457
• 2:35 pm: began surface check and wipedown, including softwalls and ceiling tiles
• 2:45 pm: started vacuuming the floor
• 2:56 pm: finished vacuuming the floor
• 2:57 pm: started mopping the floor
• 3:01 pm: finished mopping the floor
• 3:02 pm: started cleaning the buckets
• 3:05 pm: started mopping with IPA wipes
• 3:08 pm: finished mopping with IPA wipes
• 3:09 pm: started particle count
  • zone 3:
    • 0.3 u: 5528
    • 0.5 u: 2203
    • 1.0 u: 1662
• zone 4:
  • 0.3 u: 1080
  • 0.5 u: 415
  • 1.0 u: 332

Leak tested each flange and weld and only found two flanges to have noticeable leaks with the electron multiplier on. These were the turbo pump flange and the RGA flange that connects to the cross. The RGA one is rather new as it has not had a measurable leak before and it was around 2 e-8. We then applied the new sealant to these two flanges as directed by the instructions on the packaging.

Then after waiting a few minutes for the sealant to dry we started the bake. We got the PID controllers set to 120 after many steps and we checked the temperature of the flanges throughout this increase. The flanges never reached 70C with the electronics still left on it. The RGA was left on as well.

Below is the current state of the RTD readout chassis wiring. Initial continuity tests seem good, will run through one more time to confirm.

Installed the heater elements into their fixture and prepped the cables by twisting the wires into pairs. We also installed the pins onto the wires and placed them into the peek DB 25 connector. The installation tool we had did not fit the pin size we had so the pins needed to be installed by hand by opening the connector and holding them in place. In the future we will need to make sure we twist the wires together, group them, and then splice them all to the same size for easier installation. We then grouped all the twisted pairs into a bundle and zipped them together. On the left with two peek zip ties is the power and on the right is the RTD with one peek zip tie. This orientation remains true when looking at the feed through flange from the outside with the power port on closest to the wall.

We also installed the heater elements numbered 1-8 starting from the left in image 3. These elements have numbers as resistance data was taken before as to identify the heaters after they are in the chamber. After installing the DB 25 connectors we tested that the pins were in the right orientation by using a volt meter and testing the resistance where the cable runs into the the actual power supply. It seems that all the pins were properly installed and the resistance values all match with each one gaining about 2 Ohms from the cable itself.

Then the pump down was started. The pump was very slow and we suspected a leak but after changing the o-ring pump down was not any faster and we decided to leave it over break as it seemed to just be water outgassing from the aluminum. The chamber is now able to be RGA scanned and leak tested before the next bake as it is low enough pressure.

The custom front and rear panels for the RTD readout chassis arrived last Friday. I installed them in the chassis frame to check their fit. They fit very well, so all that now remains is to complete the internal wiring and test the connections.

The chassis panel designs are archived to LIGO-D2300452 and LIGO-D2300453.

Update: I have completed permanent routing of the electrical cables. I also ran the ultrasonic washer's drain line to the sink drain (the current hose does reach). The new clean and bake lab is now fully operational.

[Jon, Tyler, Aiden, Luke]

On Friday we completed assembly of the new stainless steel-topped benches in 1129. We then moved the clean and bake equipment from 1119 to its new larger space in 1129. This included the HEPA flow bench, ultrasonic washer, deionized water drum, nitrogen tanks, and forced-convection oven. The oven was re-anchored to the wall with earthquake restraints in its new location.

The power cords still need to be permanently routed, but the new clean and bake lab is otherwise ready for use.