‍‍A team of researchers from the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics, and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has made significant progress in developing a high-precision resonant capacitance bridge based on multiple transformers. This advancement, published in the journal Sensors, promises to enhance the sensitivity and accuracy of gravitational wave detection systems, particularly for the Taiji program, a mission dedicated to detecting gravitational waves in the middle and low-frequency ranges.

The detection of gravitational waves has been a long-standing pursuit of scientists, serving not only to corroborate the predictions of general relativity but also to chart a new frontier in astronomy. This project requires an acceleration residual sensitivity of 3×10^-15ms^-2/Hz^1/2 necessitating a capacitance sensing resolution of 1aF/Hz^1/2 within the specified frequency range.

To meet this stringent requirement, researchers have turned their attention to reducing the noise level of the resonant bridge, which significantly influences the resolution. However, enhancing the performance parameters of existing resonant capacitance bridges has reached its limit. This study introduces a novel approach to reduce bridge thermal noise without optimizing existing parameters.

The proposed scheme, based on multiple transformers, reduces the noise to 0.7 times the original level through simulations. This not only mitigates the demands for other performance parameters but also increases the range of maximum acceptable resonant frequency deviations and reduces its sensitivity to such variations. Experimental validation confirms that the scheme effectively reduces noise by 0.7 times and improves the resolution of capacitance sensing to 0.6aF/Hz^1/2.

This innovative approach offers several advantages. First, it does not require improvements in existing parameter performances, yet significantly reduces noise. Second, it can further reduce noise to approximately 0.72 times the original noise, even when using transformers with inferior parameters. This suggests that the scheme can achieve a commendable noise level even with transformers of lesser performance.

In summary, the research team has developed a high-precision resonant capacitance bridge scheme based on multiple transformers, which significantly reduces noise and improves the resolution of capacitive sensing. This novel approach opens up new possibilities for advancing gravitational wave detection capabilities.