High-power laser beam in higher-order Hermite–Gaussian modes

authored by

B. Von Behren, Joscha Heinze, Nina Bode, Benno Willke

Abstract

The sensitivities of current gravitational-wave detectors are limited around signal frequencies of 100 Hz by mirror thermal noise. One proposed option to reduce this thermal noise is to operate the detectors in a higher-order spatial laser mode. This operation would require a high-power laser input beam in such a spatial mode. Here, we discuss the generation of the Hermite-Gaussian modes HG 2 , 2 , HG 3 , 3 , and HG 4 , 4 using one water-cooled spatial light modulator (SLM) at a continuous-wave optical input power of up to 85 W. We report unprecedented conversion efficiencies for a single SLM of about 43%, 42%, and 41%, respectively, and demonstrate that the SLM operation is robust against the high laser power. This is an important step toward the implementation of higher-order laser modes in future gravitational-wave detectors.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Gravitation Physics

External Organisation(s)

Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
University of Birmingham

Type

Article

Journal

Applied physics letters

Volume

122

ISSN

0003-6951

Publication date

09.05.2023

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0137085 (Access: Open)