5 research outputs found
Effect of Optical Coating and Surface Treatments on Mechanical Loss in Fused Silica
We report on the mechanical loss in fused silica samples with various surface
treatments and compare them with samples having an optical coating. Mild
surface treatments such as washing in detergent or acetone were not found to
affect the mechanical loss of flame-drawn fused silica fibers stored in air.
However, mechanical contact (with steel calipers) significantly increased the
loss. The application of a high-reflective optical coating of the type used for
the LIGO test masses was found to greatly increase the mechanical loss of
commercially polished fused silica microscope slides. We discuss the
implications for the noise budget of interferometers.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in the Proceedings of
the Third Eduardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves, July 12-16, 1999.
Updated version contains a correction of Eq. 3 and an estimate for the loss
angle of a LIGO coating. (Neither of these revisions are included in the
version published in the conference proceedings.
Pendulum Mode Thermal Noise in Advanced Interferometers: A comparison of Fused Silica Fibers and Ribbons in the Presence of Surface Loss
The use of fused-silica ribbons as suspensions in gravitational wave
interferometers can result in significant improvements in pendulum mode thermal
noise. Surface loss sets a lower bound to the level of noise achievable, at
what level depends on the dissipation depth and other physical parameters. For
LIGO II, the high breaking strength of pristine fused silica filaments, the
correct choice of ribbon aspect ratio (to minimize thermoelastic damping), and
low dissipation depth combined with the other achievable parameters can reduce
the pendulum mode thermal noise in a ribbon suspension well below the radiation
pressure noise. Despite producing higher levels of pendulum mode thermal noise,
cylindrical fiber suspensions provide an acceptable alternative for LIGO II,
should unforeseen problems with ribbon suspensions arise.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters A (Dec. 14, 1999). Resubmitted to
Physics Letters A (Apr. 3, 2000) after internal (LSC) review process. PACS -
04.80.Nn, 95.55.Ym, 05.40.C
Thermal noise in interferometric gravitational wave detectors due to dielectric optical coatings
We report on thermal noise from the internal friction of dielectric coatings
made from alternating layers of Ta2O5 and SiO2 deposited on fused silica
substrates. We present calculations of the thermal noise in gravitational wave
interferometers due to optical coatings, when the material properties of the
coating are different from those of the substrate and the mechanical loss angle
in the coating is anisotropic. The loss angle in the coatings for strains
parallel to the substrate surface was determined from ringdown experiments. We
measured the mechanical quality factor of three fused silica samples with
coatings deposited on them. The loss angle of the coating material for strains
parallel to the coated surface was found to be (4.2 +- 0.3)*10^(-4) for
coatings deposited on commercially polished slides and (1.0 +- 0.3)*10^{-4} for
a coating deposited on a superpolished disk. Using these numbers, we estimate
the effect of coatings on thermal noise in the initial LIGO and advanced LIGO
interferometers. We also find that the corresponding prediction for thermal
noise in the 40 m LIGO prototype at Caltech is consistent with the noise data.
These results are complemented by results for a different type of coating,
presented in a companion paper.Comment: Submitted to LSC (internal) review Sept. 20, 2001. To be submitted to
Phys. Lett.