A vibration-free, thermally controlled setup for mechanical thermal noise measurements

We have developed a setup that offers a vacuum compatible, vibration-free experimental space with active thermal stabilization around room temperature, suitable for high sensitivity measurements. In this paper we describe the experimental setup from the thermal viewpoint and the design and implementation of the thermal control. Then we characterize the long-term performances of the control loop by using experimental data collected over 1 month: we show that our control is effective in reducing room temperature variations by a factor 100 over a few weeks, even in the presence of an internal dc heat source of 2 W.