The National Science Foundation awarded the University of Maryland, College Park a $900,000 Project Grant under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) to construct and demonstrate sensors for measuring extremely small variations in the local gravitational field. Specifically, the award will support building an assembly with two test masses to detect gravitational-wave signals in the mid-frequency range between ground-based detectors like LIGO and the planned space-based LISA detector. The sensor design leverages the university's experience with levitating superconducting test masses and sensing differential displacements at liquid helium temperatures. The assembly is expected to achieve quality factors over 1 million below 0.1 Hz using capacitive sensing, superconducting circuits, and SQUID amplifiers. The demonstration will measure the quality factor and assess vibration rejection, with the overall goals of enabling a new window for gravitational wave observations and potential early earthquake warning applications.
Mod # | Description | Reason For Modification | Federal Obligation (Click to sort descending) | Date (Click to sort ascending) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not listed | $450.0k | 6/27/22 |