INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE EFFECTS OF ELECTROSTATIC CHARGE ON THE Q-FACTOR OF A PROTOTYPE FUSED-SILICA SUSPENSION FOR USE IN GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE DETECTORS

This paper describes some investigations into the construction of a mo nolithic fused silica test mass suspension for use in interferometric gravitational wave detectors. We summarize results showing that the ma terial Q factor of standard fused quartz in the form of ribbons is of a level which makes it suitable for use as a suspension material for t he test masses of long baseline gravitational wave detectors and then present measurements of the Q factor of the pendulum mode of a non-con ducting mass suspended on cylindrical fibres of fused quartz. Our resu lts show that electrostatic charging of the mass can result in a signi ficant decrease in the pendulum mode Q factor.