A laser interferometer accelerometer for vibration sensitive cryogenic experiments

Monitoring motion originating from ultra low-temperature cooling systems like cryocoolers is important for vibration sensitive cryogenic experiments like KAGRA. Since no high sensitivity commercial cryogenic accelerometers are available, we developed a compact self-calibrating accelerometer with a Michelson interferometer readout for cryogenic use. Change in calibration factor and drop in interferometer output originating from temperature drop were the main concerns which were tackled. Sensitivity of 3.38 x 10(-11) m/root Hz at 1 Hz was achieved at 300 K. The accelerometer was tested inside the KAGRA cryostat; showed stable operation down to 12 K in 0.1-100 Hz band with only 1% visibility drop. Our accelerometer can be employed in low vibration cryogenic environment for a multitude of applications.