Low noise wideband accelerometer using an inductive displacement sensor

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Abstract
A wideband (dc to 500 Hz) low noise accelerometer has been developed. It makes use of a suspended mass whose displacement relative to the supporting structure is sensed by a linear variable differential transformer. It works both in horizontal and in vertical direction. The electronics is connected to the mechanical structure through 12 m long cables. The spectral sensitivity is 7×10−10 (m/s2)/√Hz below 6 Hz. The accelerometer will be used to perform an inertial damping of the resonances of the suspension of the mirrors in VIRGO, an interferometric antenna for gravitational waves detection.