Heterodyne laser frequency stabilization for long baseline optical interferometry in space-based gravitational wave detectors

The European Space Agency (ESA) selected the gravitational universe as the science theme for L3, a large space mission with a planned launch in 2034. NASA expressed a strong interest in joining ESA as a junior partner. The goal of the mission is the detection of gravitational waves of frequencies between 0.1 mHz and 0.1 Hz, where many long-lived sources are expected to be steady emitters of gravitational waves. Most likely, the mission design will evolve out of the earlier Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) concept. The interferometric heterodyne phase readout in LISA is performed by phase meters developed specifically to handle the low light powers and Doppler-drift of laser frequencies that appear as complications in the mission baseline. LISA requires the frequency noise of its seed lasers to be below $300\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{Hz}/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$ throughout the measurement band due to uncertainties in the absolute interferometer arm lengths. We have developed and successfully demonstrated Heterodyne Stabilization (HS), a novel cavity-laser frequency stabilization method that integrates well into the LISA mission baseline due to similar component demand. The cavities for the test setup were assembled with Clearceram-Z spacers, an ultralow thermal expansion coefficient material with potential applicability in interferometric space missions. Using HS, we were able to suppress the frequency noise of two lasers in a bench-top experiment to a level that meets the LISA requirement, suggesting both HS and Clearceram-Z can be considered in future mission concepts.