Investigations into the effects of electrostatic charge on the Q factor of a prototype fused silica suspension for use in gravitational wave detectors

Abstract

This paper describes some investigations into the construction of a monolithic fused silica test mass suspension for use in interferometric gravitational wave detectors. We summarize results showing that the material Q factor of standard fused quartz in the form of ribbons is of a level which makes it suitable for use as a suspension material for the test masses of long baseline gravitational wave detectors and then present measurements of the Q factor of the pendulum mode of a non-conducting mass suspended on cylindrical fibres of fused quartz. Our results show that electrostatic charging of the mass can result in a significant decrease in the pendulum mode Q factor.