Alongside the development and commissioning of equipment for high sensitivity gravitational wave observatories, the Applied Metrology Group at the Centre for Gravitational Astrophysics translate the same technological advancements to a wide range of optical measurement applications. Through our ability to design and build high precision measurement solutions in-house, we have engaged with a wide range of industry and research partners, resulting in a broad range of inter-disciplinary work being carried out in our laboratories.

Although unique in their applications, the core technologies of advanced interferometry, control systems and real-time digital signal processing are used across all our research. Currently, our research focus can be split into three concurrent streams.

• Development of in-house Optical Coherence Tomography systems for in-vivo monitoring of biological and geo-physical samples. This is carried out in collaboration with the ANU Research School of Biology and Research School of Engineering.
• Design and characterisation of digitally enhanced optical sensing systems. These include the design of multiplexed acoustic sensing architectures for hydrophones, characterisation of optical frequency references for laser stabilisation and development of distributed optical attenuation measurement techniques for pollution monitoring in the atmosphere. This work is carried out in collaboration with the National Measurement Institute.
• Development of Cavity Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopic (CEAS) techniques for the detection of gases at low concentrations. In collaboration with Australian Scientific Instruments and the National Measurement Institute, we focus on trace detection of carbon dioxide using compact and cost-effective optical cavity systems to achieve high precision results.

The Applied Metrology Group is in constant collaboration with other teams within the Centre for Gravitational Astrophysics. Outside of the Centre, we have multiple collaborations with both industry, government and academic institutions. Some examples include research collaborations with Australian Scientific Instruments (ASI), ANU Research School of Biology (RSB), ANU Research School of Engineering (RSE) and the National Measurement Institute (NMI).

Lead Researcher: Dr Chathura Bandutunga

Email: chathura.bandutunga@anu.edu.au