{Tega, Yehonathan, Koji}

Suspension of a Dummy Optic

We gathered the components needed for suspending a 2" optic housed in a 3" ring adapter:

1. SOS Tower

2. Winches+Winch adapter plate (Attachment 3)

2. HeNe Laser + Power supply

3. A steering mirror

4. QPD + ND2 Filter + Electronic amplifier

5. Oscilloscope

6. Dummy optic housed in a ring adapter (Attachment 2)

An OpLev was built using the HeNe laser, steering mirror, suspended optic, QPD (Attachment 1).

The beam height was set with a ruler. The QPD was placed in front of the laser and its height was adjusted until the Y signal vanished.

The beam was made parallel to the table. First, roughly by using an iris. Then, more accurately, by measuring the beam directed at the suspended optic with the QPD and zeroing the Y signal by adjusting the steering mirror.

We suspended the dummy optic using a music wire we found in the cleanroom cabinet.

All the wire clamps on the ring adapter, SOS, and winches were loosened.

About 0.5m of music wire was cut. Then, the wire was threaded through the wire clamp on the adapter side block, around the ring adapter, and through the wire clamp on the other side block, keeping the wire untwisted. The optic was put on the safety stop and the height was roughly adjusted using the lower EQ stops.

The wire pair was then threaded through the wire clamp on the suspension block and held near the winches. The wire was made to go through the groves at the side blocks. The wire was clamped to the side blocks. The wires were clamped on the winches. The wires were pulled by the winches until the magnet marking on the side blocks was centered on the OSEMs' holes on the side plates of the SOS (attachment 4).

Once the heights were set, the wire was clamped at the suspension block.

We balanced the dummy optic using a counterweight.

We placed the QPD at the laser reflection from the optic. We adjusted the screw set going through the counterweights to adjust the balance. The pitch imbalance was monitored by observing the Y signal on the oscilloscope.

Comments:

1. Turns out that for a 1/4" thick optic, the rear counterweight needs to be removed for achieving balance.

2. To fix the counterweight on the setscrew we will use some epoxy.

3. Seems like the left optical table in the cleanroom is slightly tilted. We need to fix it.

4. The bottom long EQ stop is not touching the adapter due to the balancing mass socket. We might want to put a nut on it.

5. Still need to glue 3 more side magnet+dumbell assemblies to rods and then glue them before gluing them to the side blocks which will take at least 2 more days until we can start suspending a real optic.