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. |
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. |
Mon Dec 2 00:11:23 2024, Michael, Update, Interferometer Simulations, Status Update on Toroidal Mirrors Project Work
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As it has been significant time from my last update on this project, I compiled a few notes about what I have been working on, current issues, and my future
plans. The past few weeks have been focused on me attempting to obtain a reliable symbolic expression for mismatch. This is important going forward as
it allows us to determine optimal points in the parameter space and the surrounding behavior efficiently without significant computational cost. However |
Tue Feb 25 01:37:00 2025, Michael, Update, Interferometer Simulations, Updates and Current Next Steps for Toroidal Mirrors Project
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Since the previous discussion of this project, I've worked on building finesse models to verify mathematical results which model the astigmatism in a two
mirror system which we attempt to minimize. This left us with a single condition for an output non-astigmatic beam. However, as can be seen in finesse
simulations, there does exist other configurations which have a negligibly small astigmatism, which we may want to consider. Below I've attached the link |
Sun Mar 23 15:39:06 2025, Luke Johnson, Update, Scripts/Programs, Ringheater Location optimization   
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Attached are some plots that show a new parameter sweep with a finer mesh then before. I have also been able to get a heatmap of power of HOMs in a very
simple finesse model. |
Mon Mar 31 11:26:45 2025, Luke Johnson, Update, Scripts/Programs, Heatmaps of power delivery performance 
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These plots show the required temperature to release 100W of power and the efficiency of a particular configuration with half-width w and distance away
from the barrel z. I want to add to these heat maps a limit line that has restricts the proximity of the reflectors from the barrel. |
Mon Jul 15 13:30:49 2024, Luke , Update, VAC, Problem with 2.75" to 1.33" zero length reducer
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Last Friday while checking the depth of the ZLR I got one of the screws stuck. Today I tried a couple things to get it out. First I tried a few different
pliers to be able to grip lower on the screw this didn't work. So I switched to the other method of drilling a small hole to see if maybe the threads would
pull away from the walls of the hole a bit. This kind of worked as seen in the picture below I was able to remove most of the screw but there is a bit |
Mon Aug 12 16:35:30 2024, Luke , Update, , Ringheater modeling Update  
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Fri Sep 6 14:34:52 2024, Luke , Update, VAC, Heating tape work
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On the 5th I had tried to start baking the vacuum chamber however certain parts of the chamber were getting too hot and causing the controllers to shut
off. So I turned them off so that the next day I could rearrange the temperature probes. I then on the 6th set them up so that instead of overshooting
the temperature they would be a little low in places. |
Wed Oct 2 12:05:42 2024, Luke , Update, , Ringheater modeling Update
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Power point slides |
Wed Oct 23 12:33:54 2024, Luke , Update, , Zernike calculation update
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PowerPoint slides new
PowerPoint slides older |
Wed Nov 13 14:06:00 2024, Luke , Update, General,
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slides |
Thu Nov 14 10:46:20 2024, Luke , Summary, Cleanroom, Cleanroom cleaning
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[Luke, Luis, Michael]
cleaning cleanroom and particle count |
Tue Nov 19 17:10:34 2024, Luke , Update, VAC, Leak check  
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Chamber temperature: 23C
Chamber Initial Pressure: ~1.8e-8 main, ~3.5e-8 rga
Did another leak test after monday's work to check how the seal was holding up initial leak was 5.5e-9. I then tried to tighten the bolts a bit |
Wed Nov 27 12:27:45 2024, Luke , Summary, VAC, Summary of vacuum work
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[Luke, Luis]
Update of current state of vacuum chamber
Current temp: 24°C |
Wed Nov 27 16:23:58 2024, Luke , Update, VAC, Started bake
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[Luke, Luis]
The vacuum chamber is currently baking.
We stepped up to 125°C by increments of 30°C starting at 60°C. Everything went fine. After about 20 minutes of the PID controllers |
Mon Dec 2 13:35:45 2024, Luke , Update, General, Clean and bake of Viton O-rings
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[Luke, Luis]
We couldn't access the bake log on the wiki. (see attached) So we looked in the documentation provided on the DCC to find at what temperature to
bake the Viton O-rings. We found that we should bake Viton at 180°C for 24 hours. |
Wed Jan 8 17:35:57 2025, Luke , Summary, Cleanroom, Cleanroom cleaning
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[Luke, Tyler, Cynthia, Shane, Michael]
Summary of Cleaning Activities:
We began cleaning Room 1119 at 2:00 PM. |
Tue Jan 21 10:12:02 2025, Luke , Summary, General, Frosti toy model
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[Luke, Liu]
Over the winter break I have been working on this desmos toy model of the Frosti. There
are still a few rough spots but I belive that it is a good visual representation of a 2D slice of the frosti. |
Sat Jan 25 18:19:39 2025, Luke , Update, General, Ringheater modeling Update
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Here is a quick update on some of
the things I have been working on regarding my project. |
Sat Feb 1 17:25:52 2025, Luke , Summary, General, Cleanroom cleaning
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[Luke, Cece, Luis]
Particle Count Measurements:
Pre-cleaning (12:15 PM):
Zone 3:
0.3 µm: 1325
0.5 µm: 265
1.0 |
Fri Feb 7 12:25:56 2025, Luke , Summary, VAC, Started bake
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[Luke, Luis]
The vacuum chamber is currently baking.
We stepped up to 120°C by increments of 30°C starting at 60°C. We took about an hour break at 90°C to let the temperatures equilibrate. |
Sun Feb 16 16:45:18 2025, Luke , Update, General, Ringheater position optimization   
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Over the last couple weeks I have been working on finding the optimal position of the ringheater's thermal profile.
Today I would like to give an update of where I am at and my next steps.
Using the python COMSOL interface I have been able to run and save deformation data sweeping through a great deal of potential combinations of |
Tue Feb 18 11:19:13 2025, Luke , Configuration, VAC, Repositioning of the lid's temperature probe
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Before the recent bake I slightly repositioned the temperature probe on the lid from beside the heater tape to under the heater tape. This was done to better
know and control the temperatures of the chamber while baking. It has appeared to work with the temperatures being held very close to the 120C target.
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Sun Feb 23 12:11:43 2025, Luke , Summary, Cleanroom, Cleanroom cleaning
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[Luke, Mary, Luis]
Particle Count Measurements:
Pre-cleaning (8:40 am):
Zone 3:
0.3 µm: 441
0.5 µm: 44
1.0 |
Sun Feb 23 16:00:07 2025, Luke , Update, Scripts/Programs, Ringheater modeling Update 
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These are some plots:
The first shows the convergence of the 02 mode reducing the size of the mesh. The second shows the the numerical error of the zernike.
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Fri May 31 19:37:47 2024, Luke, Update, , Vacuum chamber Disassembly   
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[Luke, Aiden, Jon, Michel, Tyler]
Work done:
On Tuesday (5/28) we removed the RGA line with minimal difficulty. On Wednesday (5/29) we removed the turbo
pump, which had a few bolts that we needed to cut. We borrowed a dremel with ceramic blades from the machine shop to help remove some of the bolts. On
Thursday we moved the vacuum chamber onto the floor to check and resecure the heating band on the bottom of the vacuum chamber. We then relocated the posts |
Wed Jun 19 18:45:14 2024, Luke, Update, , Vacuum chamber reassembly  
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[Luke, Aiden, Mohak , Tyler]
On Tuesday we had the silver screws for the spherical cube shortened by a quarter of an inch so that they would fit into
the gate valve. We then attached the spherical cube to the vacuum chamber.
On Wednesday we finished assembling the RGA line and the main turbo pump.
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Tue Jun 25 17:19:42 2024, Luke, Update, VAC, Vacuum chamber leak checking   
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Currently our main leak is in the RGA line. We found this by closing the gate valve from the main volume to see if which side was leaking more.
After
identifying this we are pumping down the main volume to see how low it can go the third attachment was taken at 4:16 6/25/24. Pumping started around 3:15.
We have not been able to find exactly which flange is leaking, but our guess is on the small blanks and where the cube attaches to the gate valve |
Wed Jun 26 16:39:34 2024, Luke, Update, VAC, Vacuum chamber leak checking 
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On Tuesday I had isolated the main volume and let it pump down over-night. Today, Wednesday, I checked it and it had only gone down by a small amount compared
to when I left it on Tuesday.
I then proceeded to tighten down the bolts attaching the tubo-pump to the zero-length reducer while it was under vacuum.
This caused the pressure to drop down a few orders of magnitude. |
Fri Jun 28 18:15:16 2024, Luke, Update, VAC, Vacuum chamber
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We will be configuring the RGA line to remove the spherical cube from the system. Currently our plan for the new design is to connect a 4.5" to 2.75"
Reducing Cross to the gate valve on the vacuum system. It will be orientated vertically with the turbo pump on top coming off the end will be a 90 deg
elbow. On the bottom there will be a 4.5" to 2.75" Zero length reducer attached to that will be a Tee on one side the pressure sensor and the other the |
Wed Jul 10 17:31:07 2024, Luke, Update, VAC, RGA line disassembly and upgrade   
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[ Luke, Cynthia, Michael, Xuesi, Anthony ]
Started work around 12:45
We vented the chamber first and once it reached atmospheric pressure we started taking apart the RGA line. |
Thu Jul 11 15:53:39 2024, Luke, Update, VAC, RGA line upgrade  
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[ Luke, Jon ]
Started work at 11:00
As mentioned in my previous post the RGA was not clearing the table because of a tilt in the cross. So I removed the 90 deg elbow, loosened the |
Sat Jul 13 15:09:04 2024, Luke, Update, General, Ring heater COMSL model update   
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After the feedback from last meeting and Liu's help narrowing down what I should do to improve the model. I made some changes: First with Liu's help
I made the proportions of the test mass and ring heater much more reasonable and parametrized by constants. Second from Cao's paper "FROSTI Nonimaging
Reflector Design" Liu showed me what I should do to define the elliptical mirrors. Third during Friday's modeling/programming meeting walked me through |
Mon Jul 22 18:19:34 2024, Luke, Update, VAC, Zero length reducer stuck bolts 
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Today, I borrowed a bolt extractor drill bit from the machine shop to remove some stuck bolts from the zlr. Before starting, I laid down a sheet of aluminum
foil on the work table and wiped down all the tools I was going to use. I began by drilling a small pilot hole and then enlarged it with a 5/32 drill bit.
However, when I attempted to use the bolt extractor, it didn't grip the bolt effectively. Our bolts were too seized, causing the extractor bit to repeatedly |
Fri Aug 23 16:08:32 2024, Luke, Update, VAC, RGA line leak testing
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[Luke, Luis, Jon, Tyler]
On the 22nd Dr. Richardson showed Luis, Tyler and I how to preform a leak test with the RGA. We did the initiall test and found a few leaks two
were particuarly bad highlighted in orenge below. To try and remidy this we planned on replacing the copper gaskests on the leaking flanges. We then began |
Tue Aug 27 15:01:26 2024, Luke, Update, VAC, RGA line leak testing
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[Luke, Tyler]
On the 27th Tyler and I ran the RGA leak test again with the electron multiplier on. These were the leaks we measured. The chamber's overall pressure
was at ~6e-8 torr. |
Tue Aug 27 18:37:40 2024, Luke, Update, Interferometer Simulations, Ringheater model update   
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Updated the model to produce a more circular deformation in the HR surface. The first three attachments are from irradiance patterns gotten from ray tracing.
The last is from a pre-defined irradiance pattern. |
Thu Aug 29 16:39:34 2024, Luke, Update, VAC, Photos of heater tape 6x
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Sun Sep 1 16:17:40 2024, Luke, Update, VAC, Vacuum chamber leak checking and re-applying heating tape
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[Luke, Luis, Cinthia, Michal, Tyler]
On the 26th Cinthia, Michal, and I took off the insolation on the vacuum chamber and re-routed it to include the new RGA volume.
The next day Luis and I finished up the last of the flanges to be attached. We attached the Pirani gauge with a conical reducing nipple to the |
Tue Sep 3 15:52:56 2024, Luke, Update, VAC, Heater tape initilization
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[Luke, Tyler, Jon]
On the 3rd we set up the pid controllers for the heater tapes and after putting on the insulation we started heating them up. We first brought
it to ~50C and let it stabilize, there was about a 6-7 degree difference between the RGA and the barrel temperature, with the barrel being higher. We then |
Mon Sep 9 21:02:37 2024, Luke, Update, VAC, Steadystate temperature of flanges
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I measured the temperature of the flanges and reconnected the RGA turning on its filament. I then turned off the PID controllers.
Here is a table that has the temperature of the different parts of the vacuum chamber.
Electronics
Temperature (C)
Pressure gauge (Main volume)
81
Main |
Mon Sep 16 07:28:16 2024, Luke, Update, Interferometer Simulations, Ring heater update
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Mon Sep 23 08:29:49 2024, Luke, Update, Interferometer Simulations, Ringheater update
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Ringheater Update
If the link does not work here is the file. |
Sat Nov 30 12:41:42 2024, Luke, Update, VAC, Vacuum bake end
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The vacuum chamber has stopped bakeing.
Current state as of 12:10, 11/30/2024:
The gate valve is open, and the filament of the RGA is on. |
Thu Dec 19 12:00:44 2024, Luke, Update, VAC, End of bake
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The vacuum chamber has stopped baking.
Current state as of 11:40, 12/19/2024:
The gate valve is open, and the filament of the RGA is on. |
Thu Nov 16 17:12:42 2023, Luis, Shane, Mohak, Update, Cleanroom, Cleanroom cleaning and particle count
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[Shane, Luis, Mohak]
cleaning cleanroom and particle count
3:37 pm: started particle count
zone 3: 0.3 u: 12050.5 u: 7481.0 u: 249
zone
4: 0.3 u: 14960.5 u: 7481.0 u: 290
3:57 pm: began surface check and wipedown, including |
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 |
Mon Sep 16 13:51:23 2024, Luis Martin, Update, VAC, RGA Scans  
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[Luis, Luke}
Three RGA scans were taken. The improvement in the amount of HC in the vacuum is visible across the different measurements.
Images are attached. |
Wed Sep 25 09:06:09 2024, Luis Martin, Update, VAC, RGA Scans 
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RGA
Scan Comparison
The following images compare the RGA scans from 9/23/24, after the first bake with the new vacuum system,
with those from 3/14/24, after bake 12 with the old system. |