Karlsruhe 2024 – scientific programme

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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 95: Gravitational waves 1

T 95.5: Talk

Thursday, March 7, 2024, 17:00–17:15, Geb. 30.23: 6/1

Composite Vacuum Tubes and Distributed Pumping for the Einstein Telescope — •Charlotte Benning¹, Robert Joppe¹, Tim Kuhlbusch¹, Oliver Pooth¹, Purnalingam Revathi¹, Ralf Schleichert², and Achim Stahl¹ — ¹III. Physikalisches Institut B, RWTH Aachen — ²Institut für Kernphysik, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH

The Einstein Telescope will be the first gravitational wave detector of the third generation. It requires about 120 km of vacuum tubes with a diameter of 1 m to achieve the design sensitivity and reduce scattered light. The pressure inside the tubes needs to be 10⁻¹¹ mbar to minimize the residual gas noise. Stainless steel tubes are currently the standard for ultra-high vacuum applications due to the vacuum requirements and mechanical integrity. Reducing the thickness of stainless steel would reduce vacuum firing costs and also help in logistics and assembly underground. Therefore, the concept of composite tubes with an outer glass fiber-reinforced epoxy shell is explored. The distributed pumping system needed to achieve the design vacuum levels will be a significant cost factor. Integrating getter surfaces into the inside of the tubes promises a cheaper and more homogeneous distribution of pumping power. This talk gives an overview of the development and testing of composite tubes and provides an introduction to distributed pumping.

Keywords: Pumping; Einstein Telescope; Vacuum Tubes; Distributed; Composite Vacuum Tubes