Observation of enhanced optical spring damping in a macroscopic mechanical resonator and application for parametric instability control in advanced gravitational-wave detectors

We show that optical spring damping in an optomechanical resonator can be enhanced by injecting a phase delay in the laser frequency-locking servo to rotate the real and imaginary components of the optical spring constant. This enhances damping at the expense of optical rigidity. We demonstrate enhanced parametric damping which reduces the Q factor of a 0.1-kg-scale resonator from 1.3×105 to 6.5×103. By using this technique adequate optical spring damping can be obtained to damp parametric instability predicted for advanced laser interferometer gravitational-wave detectors.© 2008 The American Physical Society