Coherent Cancellation of Photothermal Noise in GaAs/Al0.92_{0.92}Ga0.08_{0.08}As Bragg Mirrors

Thermal noise is a limiting factor in many high-precision optical experiments. A search is underway for novel optical materials with reduced thermal noise. One such pair of materials, gallium arsenide and aluminum-alloyed gallium arsenide (collectively referred to as AlGaAs), shows promise for its low Brownian noise when compared to conventional materials such as silica and tantala. However, AlGaAs has the potential to produce a high level of thermo-optic noise. We have fabricated a set of AlGaAs crystalline coatings, transferred to fused silica substrates, whose layer structure has been optimized to reduce thermo-optic noise by inducing coherent cancellation of the thermoelastic and thermorefractive effects. By measuring the photothermal transfer function of these mirrors, we find evidence that this optimization has been successful.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Quantum Backaction Cancellation in the Audio Band

We report on the cancellation of quantum backaction noise in an optomechanical cavity. We perform measurements of the displacement of the microresonator, one in reflection of the cavity and one in transmission of the cavity. We show that measuring the amplitude quadrature of the light transmitted by the optomechanical cavity allows us to cancel the backaction noise between 2 and 50 kHz as a consequence of the strong optical spring present in the detuned cavity. This cancellation yields a more sensitive measurement of the microresonator’s position with a 2 dB increase in sensitivity. To confirm that the backaction is eliminated, we measure the noise in the transmission signal as a function of circulating power and use a correlation technique between two photodetectors to remove shot noise. Remaining backaction noise would be observable as a power-dependent noise floor, which is not observed. Eliminating the effects of backaction in this frequency regime is an important demonstration of a technique that could be used to mitigate the effects of backaction in interferometric gravitational wave detectors such as Advanced LIGO, VIRGO, and KAGRA

Quantum Backaction Cancellation in the Audio Band

We report on the cancellation of quantum backaction noise in an optomechanical cavity. We perform measurements of the displacement of the microresonator, one in reflection of the cavity and one in transmission of the cavity. We show that measuring the amplitude quadrature of the light transmitted by the optomechanical cavity allows us to cancel the backaction noise between 2 and 50 kHz as a consequence of the strong optical spring present in the detuned cavity. This cancellation yields a more sensitive measurement of the microresonator’s position with a 2 dB increase in sensitivity. To confirm that the backaction is eliminated, we measure the noise in the transmission signal as a function of circulating power and use a correlation technique between two photodetectors to remove shot noise. Remaining backaction noise would be observable as a power-dependent noise floor, which is not observed. Eliminating the effects of backaction in this frequency regime is an important demonstration of a technique that could be used to mitigate the effects of backaction in interferometric gravitational wave detectors such as Advanced LIGO, VIRGO, and KAGRA

Transmission-dominated mid-infrared supermirrors with finesse exceeding 200 000

We fabricate and characterize substrate-transferred single-crystal mirror coatings with 9.33 $\pm$ 0.17 ppm of transmittance and 4.27 $\pm$ 0.52 ppm of excess optical loss, corresponding to a transmission-loss dominated reflectance of 99.9986% at 4.45 $\mu$m. For the first time, a cavity finesse > 200 000 is achieved in the mid-infrared.Comment: Sept 21: Minor revisions to conform to 2-page length requirement including abbr. refs.; Figure font sizes increase

Simultaneously-Measured Mid-Infrared Refractive Indices of GaAs/AlGaAs

We present our results for a simultaneous measurement of the refractive indices of Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) and Aluminum Gallium Arsenide (Al$_\mathrm{x}$Ga$_\mathrm{1-x}$As) in the spectral region from $2.0$ to $7.1\,\mathrm{\mu}\mathrm{m}$ ($5000$ to $1400\,\mathrm{cm^{-1}}$). These values are obtained from a monocrystalline thin-film multilayer Bragg mirror of excellent purity (background doping $\leq 1 \times 10^{-14}\,\mathrm{cm^{-3}}$), grown via molecular beam epitaxy. To recover the refractive indices over such a broad wavelength range, we fit a dispersion model for each material. For that, we measure both a photometrically accurate transmittance spectrum of the Bragg mirror via Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry and the individual physical layer thicknesses of the structure via scanning electron microscopy. To infer the uncertainty of the refractive index values, we estimate relevant measurement uncertainties and propagate them via a Monte-Carlo-type method. This method conclusively yields propagated relative uncertainties on the order of $10^{-4}$ over the measured spectral range for both GaAs and Al$_{0.929}$Ga$_{0.071}$As. The fitted model can also approximate the refractive index for MBE-grown Al$_\mathrm{x}$Ga$_\mathrm{1-x}$As for $0 \leq x \leq 1$. These updated values will be essential in the design and fabrication of next-generation active and passive optical devices in a spectral region which is of high interest in many fields, e.g., laser design and cavity-enhanced spectroscopy.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PR