Investigation of mechanical losses of thin silicon flexures at low temperatures

Nawrodt, R. et al. (2013) Investigation of mechanical losses of thin silicon flexures at low temperatures. Classical and Quantum Gravity, 30(11), p. 115008. (doi: 10.1088/0264-9381/30/11/115008)

Full text not currently available from Enlighten.

Abstract

Studies of the mechanical loss of silicon flexures in a temperature region from 5 to 300 K are presented, where the flexures have been prepared by different fabrication techniques of interest for the construction of suspension elements of future interferometric gravitational wave detectors. A lowest mechanical loss of 3 × 10−8 was observed for a 130 μm thick flexure at around 10 K. While the mechanical loss follows the thermo-elastic predictions down to 50 K, at lower temperatures the observed loss is found to be a function of surface roughness. This surface loss is of interest for all applications using silicon-based oscillators at low temperatures. The extraction of a surface loss parameter using results from our measurements and those of other authors is presented and the relevance for future gravitational wave detector suspensions is discussed. A surface loss parameter αs = 0.5 pm was obtained. This reveals that the surface loss of silicon is significantly lower than the surface loss of fused silica.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Hammond, Professor Giles and Nawrodt, Dr Ronny and Reid, Professor Stuart and Rowan, Professor Sheila and Martin, Dr Iain and Cunningham, Dr Liam and Hough, Professor James and Bassiri, Mr Riccardo
Authors: Nawrodt, R., Schwarz, C., Kroker, S., Martin, I.W., Bassiri, R., Brückner, F., Cunningham, L., Hammond, G.D., Heinert, D., Hough, J., Käsebier, T., Kley, E.-B., Neubert, R., Reid, S., Rowan, S., Seidel, P., and Tünnermann, A.
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:Classical and Quantum Gravity
Publisher:Institute of Physics
ISSN:0264-9381
ISSN (Online):1361-6382

University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record

Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
459311Investigations in Gravitational Radiation.Sheila RowanScience & Technologies Facilities Council (STFC)PP/F001118/1P&A - PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY
459313Investigations in Gravitational Radiation.Sheila RowanScience & Technologies Facilities Council (STFC)ST/J000361/1P&A - PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY