Implementation of electrostatic actuators for suspended test mass control

Abstract

We present our findings on recent experiments involving the use of electrostatic actuators for control of test masses suspended by flexure membranes. The actuator design and its proposed implementation for AIGO are described. With the use of first generation DSP controllers developed at VIRGO, we demonstrate the successful control of the tilt of a suspended dummy test mass in a typical seismic environment. Problems of the coupling of translation and tilt modes in a niobium flexure suspended test mass are discussed and possible solutions are presented.