Study on the Voltage Reference Noise at Sub-Millihertz Frequencies for Developing an Ultra-Stable Temperature...

Area of Science:

• Astrophysics and Space Science
• Instrumentation and Measurement

Background:

• Accurate temperature monitoring is vital for space gravitational wave detection platforms.
• Voltage references (VRs) are critical components of temperature measurement subsystems (TMS).
• Low-frequency noise (0.1mHz-1Hz) of VRs is crucial but understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a dual-channel measurement method for sub-millihertz VR noise.
• To characterize the low-frequency noise performance of state-of-the-art VR chips.

Main Methods:

• A dual-channel chopper amplifier was employed for high-sensitivity measurements.
• An assembly thermal insulation box was utilized to minimize environmental interference.
• The measurement achieved a normalized resolution of 3×10-7/Hz1/2 at 0.1mHz.

Main Results:

• The developed method successfully measured VR chip noise down to 0.1mHz.
• Seven high-performance VR chips were tested, revealing significant noise variations at sub-millihertz frequencies.
• VR chip noise at sub-millihertz frequencies can differ substantially from noise levels around 1Hz.

Conclusions:

• The study provides essential data on VR low-frequency noise for gravitational wave detection.
• The developed measurement technique offers a reliable method for characterizing VR noise in critical applications.
• Understanding and mitigating sub-millihertz VR noise is key to improving temperature measurement precision in sensitive experiments.