Tait, S. C. et al. (2020) Demonstration of the multimaterial coating concept to reduce thermal noise in gravitational-wave detectors. Physical Review Letters, 125, 011102. (doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.011102)
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Abstract
Thermal noise associated with the mechanical loss of current highly reflective mirror coatings is a critical limit to the sensitivity of gravitational-wave detectors. Several alternative coating materials show potential for reducing thermal noise, but cannot be used due to their high optical absorption. Multimaterial coatings have been proposed to enable the use of such materials to reduce thermal noise while minimizing their impact on the total absorption of the mirror coating. Here we present experimental verification of the multimaterial concept, by integrating aSi into a highly reflective SiO2 and Ta2O5 multilayer coating. We show a significant thermal noise improvement and demonstrate consistent optical and mechanical performance. The multimaterial coating survives the heat treatment required to minimize the absorption of the aSi layers, with no adverse effects from the different thermomechanical properties of the three materials.
| Item Type: | Articles |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | Also funded by the University of Glasgow and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation, STE 2646/1-1). |
| Status: | Published |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Rowan, Professor Sheila and Martin, Dr Iain and Kinley-Hanlon, Miss Maya and Steinlechner, Dr Jessica and Tait, Dr Simon and McGhee, Mr Graeme and Murray, Dr Peter |
| Authors: | Tait, S. C., Steinlechner, J., Kinley-Hanlon, M. M., Murray, P. G., Hough, J., McGhee, G., Pein, F., Rowan, S., Schnabel, R., Smith, C., Terkowski, L., and Martin, I. |
| College/School: | College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy |
| Research Centre: | College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy > Institute for Gravitational Research |
| Journal Name: | Physical Review Letters |
| Publisher: | American Physical Society |
| ISSN: | 0031-9007 |
| ISSN (Online): | 1079-7114 |
| Copyright Holders: | Copyright © 2020 American Physical Society |
| First Published: | First published in Physical Review Letters |
| Publisher Policy: | Reproduced under a Creative Commons license |
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