Simulation of Fabry-Perot cavities in a Michelson interferometer

Abstract

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) has designed to detect Gravitational Waves (GW); its system of detection is based on the Michelson interferometer configuration. When a GW hit on it, the optical elements are disturbed inducing a change in the optical path difference (OPD). The arms length in the detector should be of hundreds of kilometers, due to the small value of the expected GW intensity (h ≈10-21). This length values are not so easy to achieve because many factors, such as source noise and the profile of the earth. In order to increase the optical path of the beam, LIGO team has implemented a Fabry-Perot cavity in each arm, improving the interferometer response, such as laser amplification and noise reduction. We has build of a prototype of Michelson interferometer for show of a simple way the operation mechanism of the GW detectors and open new researches in this area. Now, we will implement a Fabry-Perot cavity in each arm of our prototype. In this work, we are showed the theoretical features and the simulation of the Fabry-Perot cavity response.