Latest Publications
Room and Low-Temperature Performance for a Sub-Attofarad Capacitance Sensor for Precision Measurements, Including Applications in Gravitational Wave Detectors
We describe the design principles, fabrication, and characterization of a precision AC capacitance sensor with a measured 0.33 aF/rtHz short term sensitivity, at 118 kHz bridge resonance frequency and at 1 Hz Fourier measurement frequency.
Flight and ground demonstration of reproducibility and stability of photoelectric properties for passive charge management using LEDs
Charges as small as 1 pC degrade the performance of high precision inertial reference instruments when accumulated on their test masses (TMs). Non-contact charge management systems are required for the most sensitive of these instruments, with the TMs free-floating, and their charges compensated by photoelectrons in a feedback loop with a TM charge measurement.
Passive Charge Management of Contactless Test Masses using Ultraviolet LEDS with Fast and Slow Photoelectrons
Free floating Test Masses (TM) of inertial reference instruments accumulate charge during separation from their housings and cosmic radiation. We demonstrate two charge management systems using fast and slow photoelectrons emitted from gold coated surfaces.
Two Approaches for the Passive Charge Management of Contactless Test Masses
Free floating Test Masses (TM) of inertial reference instruments accumulate charge mainly through the triboelectric effect during separation from their housings and, if in the space environment, from cosmic radiation. These charges will degrade the accuracy of high sensitivity accelerometers and drag-free sensors.