 Tue Jan 9 16:35:09 2024, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Leak and Heating
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[Luis, Luke, Aiden]
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 |
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Fri Jul 7 15:11:39 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update
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The temperature of the flange connecting to the turbo pump after reaching equilibrium is 74 degC. This means that it is safe to proceed with raising
the temperature from 120 degC to 150 degC.
Raised the set temperature of the chamber from 120 degC to 150 degC in 15 deg steps.
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Mon Jul 10 13:23:23 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update
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Checked on the system today.
The flange on the turbo pump has reached an equilibrium temperature of 87 degC when set at 150 degC. While
the main body of the chamber has reached an equilibrium temperature of 142 degC.
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Thu Jul 13 14:56:43 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update
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Checked on the vacuum system today to change the PID controls back to their default values in order to try and get the temperature of the cross in
front of the turbo pump higher. Currently it is sitting at 90 degC before changing the controls. While the main body is at 146 degC.
Will update
again tomorrow on new equilibrium with the default PID settings.
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Fri Jul 14 14:37:25 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update
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Checked on the vacuum system and it looks like it will either need to be increased in temperature or baked for a longer time. The main body is at 146C
while the cross is at 91C.
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Mon Jul 17 13:50:41 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update
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Started to cool down the chamber today. Final temperature readings of the chamber were 146C and 91C for the body and cross respectively.
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Mon Jul 17 14:01:41 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update 
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The insulation on the lid of the vacuum chamber has some discoloration and it may be wise to place a sensor closer to this spot in future bakes.
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Wed Aug 2 17:02:38 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update
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Moved the temperature sensor on the PID controller to one of the switch backs on the lid.
Also started the next bake with both PID controllers
set to 150 degC. When leaving the temperature sensors above the chamber read 119 C and 83 C. These sensors are on the chamber wall and flange in front
of the turbo pump respectively.
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Thu Aug 3 16:00:25 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update
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Check on the temperature of the bake today to see the equilibrium temperatures. With both of the PID controllers set to 150 C, the temperature sensors for
the wall of the chamber and the flange in front of the turbo pump read: 125 C and 90 C respectively. At these temperatures the bake would need to last
at least a week unless the temperature were to be increased. |
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Fri Aug 4 15:21:33 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update
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Checked on Bake 3 today and the temperature sensors read 126 C and 91 C for the chamber barrel and turbo pump flange respectively. These were reached while
the PID controllers were set to 150 C. |
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Thu Aug 10 14:36:00 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update
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Came in to install one of the Full range gauges. Checked the temperature first of the cross and it was reading 30 C. After installing the gauge above the
RGA line the controller was reading 2E-1 torr. Installed the other full range gauge to confirm this and it also read that pressure. There may be a leak
so I will let it sit for a bit and then perform a Helium leak test. |
 Thu Aug 10 15:10:12 2023, Jon, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update
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I shut down the turbo pump since this is evidently a large leak. We CANNOT turn on the RGA for leak checking with the pressure above 1E-5 Torr.
I think
we will have to manually inspect it. The most likely cause would be that the Viton seal around the lid overheated and failed.
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Thu Aug 10 18:32:39 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update
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[Dr. Richardson, Aiden]
DO NOT TOUCH ANY VALVES ON THE CHAMBER. THERE IS A PRESSURE DIFFERENTIAL BETWEEN THE RGA LINE,
TURBO PUMP LINE AND THE MAIN VOLUME. THE TURBO PUMP WILL BE DESTROYED IF OPENED.
Closed the valves to the turbo pump line and RGA line.
Turned the turbo pump back on and saw that the pressure in the RGA Line and Turbo pump line was going down so there was no large leak within that line |
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Fri Aug 11 18:32:00 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update 11x
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[Dr. Richardson, Aiden] Large Update
Removed most of the insulation on the chamber in order to pull back some of the heater tape to get
to the flange connecting the bypass line to the valve under the RGA line. Most of the heater tape on the bottom half of the chamber was pulled off and
the rest will need to be removed as well in order to place the start of the heater tape on the barrel of the chamber rather than one of the flanges.
Engaged |
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Fri Sep 1 19:21:19 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update
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Started bake 5 today. This will hopefully be a longer and hotter bake with it lasting 6-7 days at around 150 C. The pressure in the chamber before removing
the full range gauge and RGA box was 5.01 e-8 torr. The Argon leak was also left open for this bake to hopefully get rid of particulates on it. I also
put the heater tape I removed last time back onto the RGA cross. This made the heating up process take much longer as I had to not increase too much or |
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Tue Sep 5 16:43:19 2023, Aiden, Update, General, VAC System Heating Update
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Checked on bake 5 today after 3 days of equilibrium. The RGA cross is at 106 C and the turbo pump cross is at 74 C. This was reached while the PID controllers
were at 140 C. I will now slowly raise the temperature to 150 on the PID controllers and see if the difference in the RGA cross can be reduced. |
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Fri Sep 8 16:10:43 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update
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Turned off the PID controllers to let the chamber cool down. Final temperatures for the RGA cross and Turbo pump cross were 113 C and 80 C respectively.
The system should be cool enough to start taking measurements on Monday. |
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Mon Sep 11 16:02:42 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update
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The chamber has cooled down from bake 5 and I took the first set of data. The pressure measured during the RGA measurements reached 9.98 e-8 torr. The data
shows that the chamber got dirtier, however this has been the case for every first scan after a bake so I assume there are still some more hydrocarbons
to be vacuumed out and that the second scan will most likely give a better idea of where the chamber is at. After turning off the RGA the pressure immediately |
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Tue Oct 31 19:46:35 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update
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Started bake 7 on Monday but found issues with the heating as the cross in front of the RGA got way too hot too quickly. This resulted in shutdowns of the
heater tape while I could still only set the main PID controller for the lid to 75C. Tuesday I moved the PID controller sensors to be on the cross in front
of the RGA and on the Reducing nipple. I then placed the alarm sensors onto the lid of the chamber and the barrel. This should hopefully prevent excessive |
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Wed Nov 1 20:22:07 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update
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Raised the PID controller temperature to 105C today as at that temperature the lid and the barrel temperature sensors were reading around 120C. I will check
again tomorrow to see if there is any room for increase after equilibrium. |
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Wed Nov 29 21:13:32 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update
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Started Bake 8 today. Set the PID controllers to 120 C and will check in the morning for equilibrium temperatures for the lid and chamber wall. The chamber
pressure was 2.13 e-8 torr before taking off the full range gauges.
After the bake is done on Saturday it will be cooled down and RGA data will
be taken to measure the out gassing rate of the stainless steel fasteners inside the chamber. Then on Tuesday we will plan to vent and open the chamber |
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Thu Nov 30 13:58:18 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update
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[Aiden]
Came into the lab in the morning to check on the chamber heating. I decided to set the PID controllers to 110C rather than 120C as the chamber
lid and wall were reading near 140C. With the PID controllers at 110C the chamber lid and wall now read 126C and 132C. Currently the PID controllers are
placed on the cross in front of the RGA and the reducing nipple in front of the turbo pump. I believe this is a good equilibrium and will leave the tape |
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Sat Dec 2 18:10:23 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update
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[Aiden]
Turned off the heating tape today in anticipation to take more RGA data on Sunday or Monday morning before the meeting. |
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Mon Dec 18 15:51:49 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC System Heating Update
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After letting the chamber cool down I put the electronics back on and turned the RGA element back on. No data has been taken yet as to let the pressure
continue to fall as the RGA is powered. |
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Thu Aug 3 17:47:51 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC Heating System Update
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Did some further testing to determine if it was within reason to increase the temperature of the chamber. I used a thermometer and pulled back some
insulation to test many points on the chamber. Mainly focused on the barrel and the bottom lid of the chamber to see if it was possible to increase the
temperature of just the PID controller that is powering the bottom half of the chamber.
Found that the barrel of the chamber seems to be hotter |
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Tue Aug 8 15:31:26 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC Heating System Update 10x
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Vacuum Chamber equilibrium temperature for bake 3 are 126 C and 88 C for the chamber wall and turbo pump flange respectively. There were reached with
the PID controllers both being set to 150 C.
Also noticed some discoloration around the port insulation. It could be burned from being exposed
to the heater tape directly without insulation or it could be that the insulation, which looks much different, is depositing something around the ports.
The |
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Tue Aug 15 16:04:23 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC Heating System Update 6x
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Pulled off the rest of the heater tape along with the aluminum tape left behind. The aluminum tape adhesive left behind a ton of junk on the walls
of the chamber. This is probably due to excessive heating. In order to get the adhesive off I sprayed a vector alpha wipe with acetone and wiped down the
walls. This took a lot of acetone to get it off.
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Thu Aug 17 15:02:44 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC Heating System Update 11x
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Put the heating tape back on and made sure to have 4 coils around the barrel of the chamber. To make this happen I did not put any heater tape on the
ports but made sure to place some of the heater no more than 1 inch away from the ports. Also re-placed some of the heating sensors. For the PID controllers
there is one sensor placed on the lid and one sensor placed on the barrel. For the temperature alarms one sensor was placed near the flange of the turbo |
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Thu Aug 17 15:18:48 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC Heating System Update
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Relocated the PID controllers so that the heating tape could be plugged in. In the picture the left one controls the top half of the chamber along with
the RGA line and has its sensor on the lid near a fold. The right one controls the bottom half along with the turbo pump line and the bypass line and has
its sensor on the barrel of the chamber. The chamber is almost ready to bake again and just needs to have the full range gauges and RGA electronics box |
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Thu Jan 18 15:13:37 2024, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC Heating System Update
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[Aiden]
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. |
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Tue Feb 13 12:34:04 2024, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC Heating System Update
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| Here is an overlay with for all the heating steps done with the heater elements. |
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Thu Nov 16 19:32:31 2023, Aiden, Update, VAC, VAC HC Levels Update
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Took some more RGA data today and overlaid it with data taken from October 19. I added a red line that symbolizes where all amu peaks above 44 need to be
bellow as well as a black square around the 44th amu peak. The chamber is very close to being meeting LIGO's vacuum chamber standards. |
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Fri Jun 30 16:43:14 2023, Pamella, Update, FLIR, Updates: Small moving the FLIR camera
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[Pamella]
Today, I was able to make some adjustments to the FLIR camera angle, suggested by Dr. Richardson, and we got small possible movements
keeping the same pattern in the shapes of the triangles. I have attached photos below. I was able to move left and right as well as up and down and it
worked in four points that I marked on the table.
The only problem is that it only worked on a part of the screen, if I try to place it farther |
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Wed Oct 2 12:20:43 2024, Tyler, Update, TCS, Updated FROSTI Analysis 10/02/2024
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| Attached below are updates on current FROSTI prototype analysis. |
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Mon Jul 29 12:20:56 2024, Liu, Update, Interferometer Simulations, Update on wavefront actuation with astigmatically driven RH for CE
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| Update on wavefront actuation with astigmatically driven RH for CE is attached. |
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Fri Aug 16 12:51:46 2024, Luis Martin, Update, VAC, Update on vacuum chamber status
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[Luis, Luke, Tyler]
Vacuum chamber parts were finally received and assembled. After whipping down the parts, the blank was removed from the reducing cross. Then,
the zero-length reducer was attached. Lastly, we installed the T that had the argon leak and RGA. The final pump down showed signs of an improved seal |
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Sun Apr 7 13:42:51 2024, Michael, Update, Interferometer Simulations, Update on status of gtrace project
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[Pooyan, Michael]
After meeting and discussing the current state of our work with Prof. Fulda a few weeks ago, we have decided that the best next
step for the gtrace project is its integration into finesse work. Our first step towards this integration involved creating a sequential beam trace in
contrast to the previous non sequential gtrace simulations. A sequential beam trace not only allows for faster runtimes of the simulation ( |
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Mon Jul 29 12:23:10 2024, Liu, Update, Interferometer Simulations, Update on mechanical resonances of CE BS with stiffener ring
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| Update on mechanical resonances of CE BS with stiffener ring is attached. |
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Sun Aug 4 09:01:01 2024, Michael, Update, Interferometer Simulations, Update on SRC Mode Mismatch Analysis
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| An update on my analysis to minimize mode mismatch/scattering by introducing toroidal mirrors to the SRC. |
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Thu Jul 27 11:28:36 2023, Sophia , Update, Scripts/Programs, Update on Laser Noise Data Collection and Analysis: Dynamic CSD and PSD Plots
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This week I have successfully been able to implement our dynamic CSD and PSD plotting code, but along the way I encountered a few challenges which I will
outline in this elog post.
Challenges:
1. Once I was able to plot the data through time, I produced a graph of the raw data (shown below in the top
to images) which showed pulsed data instead of a continuous stream. On Tuesday (26th of July) Tyler and I fixed this issue, realizing that calling the |
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Thu Jul 27 14:11:42 2023, Sophia, Update, Scripts/Programs, Update on Laser Noise Data Collection and Analysis: Dynamic CSD and PSD Plots
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Here's a screen recording of the dynamic raw data and PSD/CSD plots as they are now. Will begin working on implementing a code to generate the statistical
estimator for the CSD uncertainty now. (Will talk to Tyler more about whether I can get the lines to happen or not) |
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Mon Jul 31 19:27:30 2023, Sophia, Update, Scripts/Programs, Update on Laser Noise Data Collection and Analysis: Dynamic CSD and PSD Plots
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An update on the CSD/PSD code:
The code is now taking a dynamic average of the points, and that has significantly reduced the noise that we were reading
and the issues I was having with the lines in the plots. The graph for the CSD is still putting up a fight though, and amassing many lines that do not
appear when just scatter plotted. I plan to fix that tomorrow, alongside inserting my own generated signal into the data. I have plotted the coherence |
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Tue Aug 1 15:44:31 2023, Sophia, Update, Scripts/Programs, Update on Laser Noise Data Collection and Analysis: Dynamic CSD and PSD Plots 6x
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We have identified two problems facing the intensity noise calculations, which we are working to solve.
The first of these problems, is that the red
pitaya appears to be taking data approximately 4 times faster than we would expect from the decimation rate based on how quickly it runs. To see if this
was affecting our data, we plugged the red pitaya into a function generator. We found that my code is able to identify the driving frequency, but consistently |
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Mon Aug 7 15:36:18 2023, Sophia, Update, Scripts/Programs, Update on Laser Noise Data Collection and Analysis: Dynamic CSD and PSD Plots 7x
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Today I was able to fix the red pitaya's plotting problem, and get my code to recognize driving frequencies from the function generator to within a 0.5
Hz estimation. The sinusoidal plots I have included are from sending a 1 Hz signal into the red pitaya to see the signal in real time. This allowed me
to see exactly where the system was messing up, and fix from the ground up. Once I had that working, I began to test sending in frequencies in the range |
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Tue Aug 15 10:35:00 2023, Sophia, Update, Scripts/Programs, Update on Laser Noise Data Collection and Analysis: Dynamic CSD and PSD Plots
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I have successfully added a button to my graphics, but it has posed a strange issue with the CSD and PSD values. When I plot my original code, I still see
the pretty peaks that I was getting originally, while my new code (as shown in the video and in the last screenshot) is giving me more of a line. In my
code that gives the peak values, the CSD values also tend to fluctuate in this new code as well (shown in the first screenshot), before returning to the |
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Tue Aug 15 13:32:37 2023, Sophia, Update, Scripts/Programs, Update on Laser Noise Data Collection and Analysis: Dynamic CSD and PSD Plots
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I have now fixed all issues that I was having this morning, and have added text boxes which show the peak values of both PSD's and the CSD alongside the
graphs. They also update continuously with the graph. This is shown in the top image. The laser was driven at 400Hz, and had 0.5V peak to peak voltage,
both of which appear correctly in the below graphs.
Now that the code is almost fully working (we will finish debugging the screenshot method later |
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Tue Jul 18 14:13:46 2023, Sophia , Update, Scripts/Programs, Update on Laser Noise Data Collection and Analysis 6x
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We [Sophia and Tyler] have found a code which will partition our data and generate PSD's and CSD's automatically. We are now in the stage of writing this
into a dynamic code, which so far has been fast-paced because of the framework we have built for it over the past few weeks.
Something to note is that
we have found, especially over long periods of time, the laser goes through periods of extreme noise and the signals often cross from where we set them |
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Mon Jul 29 12:18:52 2024, Liu, Update, Interferometer Simulations, Update on FROSTI O5 ETM profile optimization
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| Update on FROSTI O5 ETM profile optimization is attached. |
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Tue Aug 8 16:47:11 2023, Sophia, Update, Scripts/Programs, Update on Dynamic CSD and PSD Plots
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We have fixed our rapid plotting error, and realized that this has not been affecting our data intake! Below is a video of the code progressing, alongside
grabbed images of the raw data. The data is now continuous, and performs as we expect. Next, I plan to add a widget which will dynamically show the peak
values instead of them just being printed in the terminal after each iteration. (Ignore the red box-- it was from me struggling with a now fixed issue). |
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Mon Sep 9 12:36:45 2024, Michael, Update, Interferometer Simulations, Update on Analysis of Mode Mismatch Minimization in A#
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I have taken a closer look at the solution curve in the mirror parameter space which I have searched, focusing on the "resilience" of specific points, with
the plan to analyze how certain conditions of the interferometer change as we move along this solution curve. |