Six-Degrees-of-Freedom Test Mass Readout via Optical Phase-Locking Heterodyne Interferometry

The accurate position and posture measurements of the freely falling test mass are crucial for the success of spaceborne gravitational wave detection missions. This article presents a novel laboratory-developed test mass motion readout that utilizes quadrant photodetectors to measure the translation and tilt of a test mass. Departing from conventional methods, such as Zeeman effect or AOM frequency shift modulation, the readout system employs the phase locking of two lasers to generate the dual-frequency heterodyne source. Notably, the out-of-loop sensitivity of the phase locking reaches below 30 pm/Hz1/2 within the frequency band of 1 mHz and 10 Hz. The system comprises three measurement interferometers and one reference interferometer, featuring a symmetric design that enables measurements of up to six degrees of freedom based on polarization-multiplexing and differential wavefront sensing (DWS). Ground-simulated experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system has achieved a measurement sensitivity of 4 pm/Hz1/2 and 2 nrad/Hz1/2 at 1 Hz, a resolution of 5 nm and $0.1~\mu $ rad, and a range of $200~\mu $ m and $600~\mu $ rad, respectively. These findings showcase the system’s potential as an alternative method for precisely monitoring the motion of test masses in spaceborne gravitational wave detection missions and other applications requiring accurate positioning and multi-degree-of-freedom sensing.