Advanced LIGO subsystems
are the organizational units of the overall project. Follow the links below to view the mission and progress of each subsystem.
Auxiliary Optics | Core Optics |
![]() |
![]() |
Data Acquisition | Data and Computing Systems |
![]() |
![]() |
Facilities Modifications |
Input Optics |
![]() |
![]() |
Interferometer Control |
Pre-Stabilized Laser |
![]() |
![]() |
Seismic Isolation |
Suspensions |
![]() |
![]() |
Advanced LIGO News
Small Optic Suspenions Enter the L1 Interferometer
July 2012
When LIGO's laser light first enters the vacuum system, the light undergoes purification in a 14-meter mode cleaner cavity. The beam experiences an increase in diameter after leaving the mode cleaner by interacting with several suspended optics in a system known as a mode-matching telescope. The resulting light, stripped of undesired modes and sized for entry into the main interferometer, is named input light. LIGO Livingston Observatory has completed the installation of the L1 input optics chain.
Unlike the large optic (core optic) suspension frames that consist of numerous joined parts, the frames for Advanced LIGO input optics (small optics such as those in the mode cleaner) are single welded units. In other respects, the small optic suspensions resemble their larger counterparts in design and functionality. Blade springs at the top of a suspension provide vertical vibration isolation. Voice-coil actuators similar to those used in Initial LIGO populate the all three stages of the suspension. The face of a small suspended optic possesses tiny glued-on magnets that protrude into copper coils for magnetic force actuation similar to the Initial LIGO system. Thin wire loops suspend one stage from another.
Small optic suspensions such as those in the mode cleaner cavity occupy vacuum chambers known as Horizontal Access Modules (HAM's). A pair of HAM's along the input arm, between the laser and the beam splitter, contain the input optics system, a dense array of hardware that includes the mode cleaner and mode-matching optics along with other components such as a Faraday isolator to prevent light that's leaving the interferometer to pass back into the main laser. The left photo shows the contents of an input HAM. Nearly all of the aLIGO input components require more table space than their Initial LIGO predecessors. The implementation of a chain of power recycling optics in aLIGO instead of a single power recycling mirror as before creates an entirely new 14m reflected path parallel to the mode cleaner path. These factors create the need for additional in-vacuum width between the input HAM's, a need that aLIGO previously addressed by replacing the exisitng 86cm diameter input tube sections with 213cm diameter tubes.
Using an installation arm to install a small optic suspension
aLIGO News Archive
August 2016 -- LIGO Reports O1 Results
June 2016 -- Another Black Hole Merger
Feburary 2016 -- First Gravitational Wave Detection
November 2015 -- O1 Progress Report
August 2015 -- Final Preparations for the O1 Run
February 2015 -- Hanford's H1 Achieves Two-Hour Lock
July 2014 -- Livingston Commissioning Progress
June 2014 -- Livingston Locks the L1 Interferometer
December 2013 -- Livingston Installs End Station Payloads
September 2013 -- Half-interferometer Test Closes
June 2013 -- DRMI Test at Livingston
May 2013 -- Arm Length Stabilization
November 2012 -- One-arm Test at Hanford
September 2012 -- LIGO Begins Locking Optical Cavities
August 2012 -- Installation of Stray Light Controls
July 2012 -- Small Optic Suspenions Enter L1
April 2012 -- First Cartridges Enter the Vacuum
November 2011 -- Glass Fiber Suspensions in Production
October 2011 -- Continued Suspension Development
July 2011 -- Hanford's H2 Becomes a 4K
May 2011 -- LLO Laser Installation Completed
March 2011 -- Input and Output Tubes Undergo Removal
February 2011 -- New Laser Enclosure Takes Shape
December 2010 -- Initial LIGO Comes Out of the Vacuum
October 2010 -- S6 Yields to Advanced LIGO
Explore Advanced LIGO
Construction Schedule
Instrumentation and Astrophysics
An Overview of the Upgrades
The International Partnership
Science Impacts
LIGO Technology Transfers
LIGO Scientific Collaboration
Public Outreach
LIGO Magazine
aLIGO Home