The application of higher-order Laguerre Gauss (LG) modes in large-scale
gravitational wave detectors has recently been proposed. In comparison to the
fundamental mode, some higher-order Laguerre Gauss modes can significantly
reduce the contribution of coating Brownian noise. Using frequency domain
simulations we give a detailed analysis of the longitudinal and angular control
signals derived with a LG33 mode in comparison to the fundamental TEM00 mode.
The performance regarding interferometric sensing and control of the LG33 mode
is found to be similar, if not even better in all aspects of interest. In
addition, we evaluate the sensitivity gain of the implementation of LG33 modes
into the Advanced Virgo instrument. Our analysis shows that the application of
the LG33 mode results in a broadband improvement of the Advanced Virgo
sensitivity, increasing the potential detection rate of binary neutron star
inspirals by a factor 2.1.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure