Mechanical Loss in Tantala/Silica Dielectric Mirror Coatings

Abstract

Current interferometric gravitational wave detectors use test masses with mirror coatings formed from multiple layers of dielectric materials, most commonly alternating layers of SiO2 (silica) and Ta2O5 (tantala). However, mechanical loss in the Ta2O5/SiO2 coatings may limit the design sensitivity for advanced detectors. We have investigated sources of mechanical loss in the Ta2O5/SiO2 coatings, including loss associated with the coating-substrate interface, with the coating-layer interfaces, and with the bulk material. Our results indicate that the loss is associated with the bulk coating materials and that the loss of Ta2O5 is substantially larger than that of SiO2.

8 pages, 6 figures, two figures are color

References in corpus (4)

• Internal thermal noise in the LIGO test masses : a direct approach
• Thermal noise in interferometric gravitational wave detectors due to dielectric optical coatings
• Thermal noise in half infinite mirrors with non-uniform loss: a slab of excess loss in a half infinite mirror
• High quality factor measured in fused silica

Cited by in corpus (53)

• Advanced LIGO
• Gravitational Radiation Detection with Laser Interferometry
• Quantum Measurement Theory in Gravitational-Wave Detectors
• Amorphous optical coatings of present gravitational-wave interferometers
• Thermoelastic dissipation in inhomogeneous media: loss measurements and displacement noise in coated test masses for interferometric gravitational wave detectors
• Frequency and surface dependence of the mechanical loss in fused silica
• Mechanical loss in state-of-the-art amorphous optical coatings
• Brownian Thermal Noise in Multilayer Coated Mirrors
• Measurement of Thermal Noise in Multilayer Coatings with Optimized Layer Thickness
• Multi-Material Coatings with Reduced Thermal Noise
• Measurement of the mechanical loss of a cooled reflective coating for gravitational wave detection
• Measurements of a low temperature mechanical dissipation peak in a single layer of Ta2O5 doped with TiO2
• Superfluid Brillouin Optomechanics
• Corner reflectors and Quantum-Non-Demolition Measurements in gravitational wave antennae
• The Search for Gravitational Waves
• Direct Measurement of Coating Thermal Noise in Optical Resonators
• Classical signature of ponderomotive squeezing in a suspended mirror resonator
• Direct Observation of Broadband Coating Thermal Noise in a Suspended Interferometer
• Reducing the mirrors coating noise in laser gravitational-wave antennae by means of double mirrors
• Coherent Cancellation of Photothermal Noise in GaAs/Al${}_{0.92}$Ga${}_{0.08}$As Bragg Mirrors
• Structure and morphology of low mechanical loss TiO${}_2$-doped Ta${}_2$O${}_5$
• Systematic measurement of the intrinsic losses in various kinds of bulk fused silica
• Comprehensive study of amorphous metal oxide and Ta${}_2$O${}_5$-based mixed oxide coatings for gravitational-wave detectors
• Optical and mechanical properties of ion-beam-sputtered Nb${}_2$O${}_5$ and TiO${}_2$-Nb${}_2$O${}_5$ thin films for gravitational-wave interferometers
• Exploration of co-sputtered Ta${}_2$O${}_5$-ZrO${}_2$ thin films for gravitational-wave detectors
• Material loss angles from direct measurements of broadband thermal noise
• Mechanical Ringdown Studies of Large-Area Substrate-Transferred GaAs/AlGaAs Crystalline Coatings
• Substrate-transferred GaAs/AlGaAs crystalline coatings for gravitational-wave detectors: A review of the state of the art
• Building blocks for future detectors: Silicon test masses and 1550 nm laser light
• Technology for the next gravitational wave detectors
• Brownian Thermal Noise in Functional Optical Surfaces
• Investigation of the Young's modulus and thermal expansion of amorphous titania-doped tantala films
• Mirror thermal noise in laser interferometer gravitational wave detectors operating at room and cryogenic temperature
• Calculation of thermal noise in grating reflectors
• Thermoelastic-damping noise from sapphire mirrors in a fundamental-noise-limited interferometer
• Structural evolution of binary oxide nanolaminates with annealing and its impact on room-temperature internal friction
• Opportunities and limits of lunar gravitational-wave detection
• Reducing Thermal Noise in Future Gravitational Wave Detectors by employing Khalili Etalons
• LION :Laser Interferometer On the mooN
• Broadband Measurement of Coating Thermal Noise in Rigid Fabry-Perot Cavities
• High Precision Inertial Sensors on a One Inch Diameter Optic
• Numerically modeling Brownian thermal noise in amorphous and crystalline thin coatings
• Tenfold reduction of Brownian noise in optical interferometry
• Development of ion-beam sputtered silicon nitride thin films for low-noise mirror coatings of gravitational-wave detectors
• Parametric instabilities in the LCGT arm cavity
• A new method of probing mechanical losses of coatings at cryogenic temperatures
• Mirror Surface Nanostructuring via Laser Direct Writing -- Characterization and Physical Origins
• Researches on Non-standard Optics for Advanced Gravitational Waves Interferometers
• Tests of cryogenic Fabry-Perot cavity with mirrors on different substrates
• Deep insights into the local structure of amorphous Ta2O5 thin films by X-ray pair distribution function analysis
• Mechanical loss and stability analysis of NEXCERA in ultra-stable optical cavities
• Pass-through Mach-Zehnder topologies for macroscopic quantum measurements
• Thermal Noise Reduction in Ternary Optical Coatings: From Ti::GeO${}_2$-Based Ternary Systems to High Index Materials