1,515 research outputs found
High-sensitivity optical monitoring of a micro-mechanical resonator with a quantum-limited optomechanical sensor
We experimentally demonstrate the high-sensitivity optical monitoring of a
micro-mechanical resonator and its cooling by active control. Coating a
low-loss mirror upon the resonator, we have built an optomechanical sensor
based on a very high-finesse cavity (30000). We have measured the thermal noise
of the resonator with a quantum-limited sensitivity at the 10^-19 m/rootHz
level, and cooled the resonator down to 5K by a cold-damping technique.
Applications of our setup range from quantum optics experiments to the
experimental demonstration of the quantum ground state of a macroscopic
mechanical resonator.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Generation of a flat-top laser beam for gravitational wave detectors by means of a nonspherical Fabry-Perot resonator
We have tested a new kind of Fabry-Perot long-baseline optical resonator proposed to reduce the thermal noise sensitivity of gravitational wave interferometric detectors--the "mesa beam" cavity--whose flat top beam shape is achieved by means of an aspherical end mirror. We present the fundamental mode intensity pattern for this cavity and its distortion due to surface imperfections and tilt misalignments, and contrast the higher order mode patterns to the Gauss-Laguerre modes of a spherical mirror cavity. We discuss the effects of mirror tilts on cavity alignment and locking and present measurements of the mesa beam tilt sensitivity
Optomechanical characterization of acoustic modes in a mirror
We present an experimental study of the internal mechanical vibration modes
of a mirror. We determine the frequency repartition of acoustic resonances via
a spectral analysis of the Brownian motion of the mirror, and the spatial
profile of the acoustic modes by monitoring their mechanical response to a
resonant radiation pressure force swept across the mirror surface. We have
applied this technique to mirrors with cylindrical and plano-convex geometries,
and compared the experimental results to theoretical predictions. We have in
particular observed the gaussian modes predicted for plano-convex mirrors.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, RevTe
Polarization squeezing with cold atoms
We study the interaction of a nearly resonant linearly polarized laser beam
with a cloud of cold cesium atoms in a high finesse optical cavity. We show
theoretically and experimentally that the cross-Kerr effect due to the
saturation of the optical transition produces quadrature squeezing on both the
mean field and the orthogonally polarized vacuum mode. An interpretation of
this vacuum squeezing as polarization squeezing is given and a method for
measuring quantum Stokes parameters for weak beams via a local oscillator is
developed
Robust entanglement of a micromechanical resonator with output optical fields
We perform an analysis of the optomechanical entanglement between the
experimentally detectable output field of an optical cavity and a vibrating
cavity end-mirror. We show that by a proper choice of the readout (mainly by a
proper choice of detection bandwidth) one can not only detect the already
predicted intracavity entanglement but also optimize and increase it. This
entanglement is explained as being generated by a scattering process owing to
which strong quantum correlations between the mirror and the optical Stokes
sideband are created. All-optical entanglement between scattered sidebands is
also predicted and it is shown that the mechanical resonator and the two
sideband modes form a fully tripartite-entangled system capable of providing
practicable and robust solutions for continuous variable quantum communication
protocols
High-sensitivity monitoring of micromechanical vibration using optical whispering gallery mode resonators
The inherent coupling of optical and mechanical modes in high finesse optical
microresonators provide a natural, highly sensitive transduction mechanism for
micromechanical vibrations. Using homodyne and polarization spectroscopy
techniques, we achieve shot-noise limited displacement sensitivities of
10^(-19) m Hz^(-1/2). In an unprecedented manner, this enables the detection
and study of a variety of mechanical modes, which are identified as radial
breathing, flexural and torsional modes using 3-dimensional finite element
modelling. Furthermore, a broadband equivalent displacement noise is measured
and found to agree well with models for thermorefractive noise in silica
dielectric cavities. Implications for ground-state cooling, displacement
sensing and Kerr squeezing are discussed.Comment: 25 pages, 8 figure
Experimental measurement of photothermal effect in Fabry-Perot cavities
We report the experimental observation of the photothermal effect. The
measurements are performed by modulating the laser power absorbed by the
mirrors of two high-finesse Fabry-Perot cavities. The results are very well
described by a recently proposed theoretical model [M. Cerdonio, L. Conti, A.
Heidmann and M. Pinard, Phys. Rev. D 63 (2001) 082003], confirming the
correctness of such calculations. Our observations and quantitative
characterization of the photothermal effect demonstrate its critical importance
for high sensitivity interferometric displacement measurements, as those
necessary for gravitational wave detection.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Original optical metrologies of large components
présentée par A. RemillieuxThe coating deposition on large optical components (diameter 350 mm) has required the development of new metrology tools at 1064 nm. To give realistic values of the optical performances, the whole surface of the component needs to be scanned. Our scatterometer (commercial system) has been upgraded to support large and heavy samples. The other metrology tools are prototypes we have developed. We can mention the absorption (photothermal effect) and birefringence bench, a control interferometer equipped with an original stitching option, the optical profilometer (RMS roughness and small defect measurements). A detailed description of these metrology benches will be exposed. Their sensitivity, accuracy and capability to map the optical properties of substrates or mirrors will be discussed. We will describe the recent developments: the stitching option adapted to the Micromap profilometer to measure the RMS roughness on larger area (exploration of a new spatial frequency domain), the accurate bulk absorption calibration
Realization of low-loss mirrors with sub-nanometer flatness for future gravitational wave detectors
The second generation of gravitational wave detectors will aim at improving by an order of magnitude their sensitivity versus the present ones (LIGO and VIRGO). These detectors are based on long-baseline Michelson interferometer with high finesse Fabry-Perot cavity in the arms and have strong requirements on the mirrors quality. These large low-loss mirrors (340 mm in diameter, 200 mm thick) must have a near perfect flatness. The coating process shall not add surface figure Zernike terms higher than second order with amplitude >0.5 nm over the central 160 mm diameter. The limits for absorption and scattering losses are respectively 0.5 and 5 ppm. For each cavity the maximum loss budget due to the surface figure error should be smaller than 50 ppm. Moreover the transmission matching between the two inputs mirrors must be better than 99%.
We describe the different configurations that were explored in order to respect all these requirements. Coatings are done using IBS.
The two first configurations based on a single rotation motion combined or not with uniformity masks allow to obtain coating thickness uniformity around 0.2 % rms on 160 mm diameter. But this is not sufficient to meet all the specifications.
A planetary motion completed by masking technique has been studied. With simulated values the loss cavity is below 20 ppm, better than the requirements. First experimental results obtained with the planetary system will be presented
I.B.S. coatings on large substrates: Towards an improvement of the mechanical and optical performances
présenté par A. RemillieuxLarge mirrors (350 mm), having extremely low optical loss (absorption, scattering, wavefront) were coated for the VIRGO interferometer. The new mirror generation needs better wavefront and lower mechanical loss. The first results are discussed
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