GEO600
GEO 600 is a detector of arm length 600 m, built in Hannover by a collaboration involving Glasgow, the University of Wales (Cardiff), the Albert-Einstein-Institute Hannover and the Albert Einstein Institute Golm. Although of shorter arm length than the LIGO or VIRGO detectors, GEO has some unique technical features that have enabled it to take part in a series of five major data taking runs with the larger detectors. These features include:
- Quasi-monolithic fused silica suspensions of the test masses to allow a reduction in thermal noise
- the use of signal recycling - recycling of the signal sidebands on the output light back into the interferometer in a resonant way - to enhance signal size