Control and tuning of a suspended Fabry-Perot cavity using digitally enhanced heterodyne interferometry

Abstract

We present the first demonstration of real-time closed-loop control and deterministic tuning of an independently suspended Fabry-Perot optical cavity using digitally enhanced heterodyne interferometry, realizing a peak sensitivity of ~10 pm/√Hz over the 10-1000 Hz frequency band. The methods presented are readily extensible to multiple coupled cavities. As such, we anticipate that refinements of this technique may find application in future interferometric gravitational-wave detectors.