Aachen 2019 – scientific programme

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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 57: Axionen II

T 57.3: Talk

Wednesday, March 27, 2019, 16:35–16:50, S09

Heterodyne detection in the ALPS II experiment — •Giuseppe Messineo for the ALPS collaboration — University of Florida, Gainesville FL (USA)

The Any Light Particle Search (ALPS) II is an experiment designed to search for weakly interacting sub-eV particles that couple to photons in the presence of a magnetic field. In order to detect the extremely weak photon fields associated with the existence of such hypothetical particles, the detector employed needs to be sensitive to power levels equivalent to a few photons per week. The ALPS group at the University of Florida has developed a detection method based on heterodyne interferometry that takes advantage of the coherent nature of the expected signal field. This technique relies on the ability to precisely track the signal phase, with a precision better than 0.1 cycles, over measurement times of several weeks. We use optical techniques similar to those found in modern day gravitational wave experiments to appropriately track and record phase information to achieve the required precision. I will report on the design and tests of the heterodyne optical setup and its associated shot-noise-limited detector.