Tue May 6 13:07:34 2025, Michael, Update, Interferometer Simulations, Initial Convergence Plots for Toroidal Mirrors Project  
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Mon May 26 23:24:33 2025, Michael, Update, Interferometer Simulations, Initial Monte Carlo Simulations for Toroidal Mirrors Project
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I've run an initial Monte Carlo simulation for statistical comparison of toroidal mirrors for the dual FROSTI TCS case. Below is the link to the slides.
slideshow |
Tue Aug 26 12:18:36 2025, Michael, Update, Interferometer Simulations, Squeezing Plots for SRC Parameter Space  
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I've run a few plots of observed squeezing in the LIGO interferometer to fully ensure that the point we have selected is the optimal point for squeezing.
Contrary to what I expected, there seems to be much more degenerate "optimal" configurations. While the toroidal case may be near optimal, it seems that
the solution we found for a non astigmatic beam is not the only one. I will further explore this space to find more optimal/tolerant positions, which I |
Tue Aug 5 11:25:17 2025, Mary, Update, , point absorber and coated aperture in A#
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Simulating how point absorber defects on Advanced LIGO mirrors affect cavity performance by modeling a 4km LIGO-like arm cavity with a point absorber
fixed at 5cm off-center on the ITM. In this simulation, displaced the laser beam across a 21×21 grid while calculating the deformation, then measuring
the resulting power loss in the cavity (~283W circulating power). |
Tue Aug 12 13:49:24 2025, Mary, Update, , point absorber and coated aperture in A#
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Tue Jul 8 11:46:55 2025, Maple Matzner, Update, TCS, Update on SURF progress for Jul 8
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Tue Jul 29 11:45:19 2025, Maple, Update, TCS, Meeting update
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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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Tue Apr 8 12:15:59 2025, Luke , Update, Scripts/Programs, Updated optimization plot
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Tue Apr 22 08:00:39 2025, Luke , Update, Scripts/Programs, Thermal optimization modeling 40kg
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I have redone the width and location optimization with a 40kg test mass. This was to see where the nominal ring heater would fall in this optimization
map see attached.
There are two concerns I have with this modeling: |
Fri Apr 25 09:09:03 2025, Luke , Update, Scripts/Programs, Update to optimization plots   
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I have calculated the curvature of the surface plots and created a heat map out of the data. I have also created a contour plot of them together. It is
very rough and the artifacts at small w make it hard to read. I am planning on excluding that data and replot them. In the meantime I have created a temporary
function that balance the two values. (log_10(curvature/HOMscattering))
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Fri Apr 25 19:18:10 2025, Luke , Update, Scripts/Programs, New optimization plots 
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I have created two more plots. One on the transmitted power for a specific configuration. This was done by taking the product of the efficiency and the
power released by surface area of the source plane for a configuration assuming it is at 300C. The second is a plot of how close the reflector is to the
test mass I have included a contour line at 2mm the nominal proximity constraint. Both of these plots are generated for a 2cm wide target plane. |
Sun May 4 18:17:45 2025, Luke , Update, Scripts/Programs, Ringheater modeling Update
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Slides
I have changed some properties of the thermal model and am re-running the thermal sweeping
I have also been messing around with making
a logo |
Fri May 9 20:06:27 2025, Luke , Summary, Cleanroom, Cleanroom cleaning
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[Luke, Mohak, Luis]
We were also able to remove the residue that has built up on the soft walls by donning a skinny bunny suit and with two wipes rubbing both sides
of the soft walls at the same time. The wipes would get gummy very quickly and need to be replaced frequently. |
Sun May 11 19:36:42 2025, Luke , Update, Scripts/Programs, New optimization plots
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Slides
I have re-run the optimization plots with the changes mentioned last week.
I have added the heat maps of the HOM scattering from HR deformation and the HOM scattering due to the OPD difference as well as the curvature |
Mon Jun 2 09:45:06 2025, Luke , Update, Scripts/Programs, Ringheater modeling Update
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Slides
I have added some slides to my meeting updates. The updates include: my choice in position and width, some figures I have added to my write up,
and what I think my immediate steps are to wrap up. |
Wed Jun 25 15:44:47 2025, Luke , Update, Cleanroom, Cleanroom cleaning
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[Luke, Luis, Tyler, Ma, Christina, Maple]
We started by cleaning outside of the cleanroom wiping down the cable channel and working our way down. We replaced the air filter in the HEPA
filter with what seemed to be the last one in storage. We then vacuumed outside, before wiping down the inside of the cleanroom. We then vacuumed, mopped, |
Mon Jul 14 20:45:20 2025, Luke , Summary, Cleanroom, HEPA filter performance metrics
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[Luke, Luis]
We’ve been looking into methods for evaluating the performance of the HEPA filters in the clean room. Measuring flow rate appears to be
a promising approach, since the filter manual specifies a recommended minimum of 70 ft/min. |
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. |