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N. Marinas (U Florida)
A Galilean Equivalence Principle test is being constructed at SAO by Reasenberg and Phillips that requires a precision distance laser gauge faster by a factor of 1000 than ones used in previous tests. A vacuum chamber containing test masses will move along a vertical path. Each mass will have a retro-reflector used at one end point of a laser gauge that will measure the distance between the masses. To take accurate measurements for this experiment, the laser gauge needs a measurement capability of 0.2 nm in 10 ms. During the Summer at SAO, the laser gauge was tested for time response and noise by obtaining a noise spectrum and calculating the 3dB frequency of the gauge. The system also needed an increased frequency shift to allow the gauge to follow large distance changes. By redesigning the optic path of the laser, we were able to obtain the desired frequency shift for the experiment. This new improved system will be presented.