Noise Investigation on the LISA-Pathfinder Optical Bench Ground Setup

Abstract

The subject of this thesis is noise investigations on the LISA Pathfinder OMS ground setup. LISA Pathfinder (LPF) is a planned ESA technology demonstration space- mission, the LPF spacecraft features an optical measurement system similar to the LISA mission. LISA is a planned triangular laser telescope with a million kilometres arm length on an orbit around the sun. Distance fluctuations between two free falling test masses per arm are measured with heterodyne interferometry. The LPF flight model features two test masses about 0.38m apart. Test mass motion on earth is realised with piezoelectric actuators. During this thesis the noise dependence on different test mass positions was investigated. The test masses of the flight model (FM) are placed in a housing in the spacecraft, the implications of which on the interferometer performance were simulated with a housing mockup.