Cryogenics

R&D for GW detectors at cryogenic temperatures

The Einstein Telescope is envisioned in a so-called xylophone configuration, which means that the single-interferometer scheme of the current detectors will be replaced by a pair of interferometers, one operated at room temperature and high laser power, the other at cryogenic temperature and low laser power. Development of new technologies are required to realize an interferometer at low temperature. The current focus is on the development and testing of seismic sensors operating in a cryogenic environment at the National Lab of Gran Sasso (LNGS) in collaboration with a team at Sapienza University of Rome, which leads the cryogenics research in Europe for gravitational-wave detection.