The Schenberg spherical antenna: status report

Full text. Here we present a status report of the Schenberg antenna, which started commissioning runs in September 2006 under the full support of FAPESP. In its first commissioning runs we tested three preliminary parametric transducer systems, which did not achieve a high enough performance for placing the antenna sensitivity in the range of the calibrator capacitor. Instead of improving the calibrator, making it capable of introducing a larger input force, we decided to go to a radical upgrading operation: replacing the three transducers for a complete set of six transducers, with better sensitivity and arranged according to the truncated icosahedron configuration, plus two extra ones; starting to install the dilution refrigerator; installing wires, cables, and amplifiers for the complete set of transducer circuits; and a new suspension and vibration isolation system for the cabling and microstrip antennas. We also have been developing a new set of transducers, microwave oscillators, microstrip antenna pairs, and studying an innovative approach, which could transform Schenberg into a broadband gravitational wave detector by the use of an ultra-high sensitivity non-resonant nanogap transducer, constructed by the application of recent achievements of nanotechnology. A spherical antenna, such as Schenberg or Mini-Grail, could add to this quality the advantage of wave position and polarity determination. (author)