Work

Thermal noise and mechanical loss of SiO2/Ta2O5 optical coatings at cryogenic temperatures

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: Mechanical loss of dielectric mirror coatings sets fundamental limits for both gravitational wave detectors and cavity-stabilized optical local oscillators for atomic clocks. Two approaches are used to determine the mechanical loss: ringdown measurements of the coating quality factor and direct measurement of the coating thermal noise. Here we report a systematic study of the mirror thermal noise at 4, 16, 124, and 300 K by operating reference cavities at these temperatures. The directly measured thermal noise is used to extract the mechanical loss for S i O 2 / T a 2 O 5 coatings, which are compared with previously reported values.

Source: Optics Letters

DOI: 10.1364/ol.413758

Authors: John M. Robinson, Eric Oelker, William R. Milner, Dhruv Kedar, Wei Zhang, Thomas Legero, Dan G. Matei, Sebastian Häfner, Fritz Riehle, Uwe Sterr, Jun Ye

Institutions: Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, University of Colorado Boulder, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt

Language: English

Topic: Mechanical and Optical Resonators

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Science and Technology Facilities Council

Awards: G40493870, Gravitational Waves PROJECT COORDINATION, QLCI-CI: NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Enhanced Sensing and Distribution Using Correlated Quantum States, Investigations in Gravitational Radiation, G745383156

OpenAlex ID: W3101593409

FWCI: 0.92

Cites: 35

Cited by: 23

Related to: 10