Optical absorption of ion-beam sputtered amorphous silicon coatings

Steinlechner, J.; Martin, I. W.; Bassiri, R.; Bell, A. S.; Fejer, M. M.; Markosyan, A. S.; Route, R.; Rowan, S.; Tornasi, Z.

doi:10.1103/physrevd.93.062005

Cited by 23 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…A pure SiO 2 and aSi HR coating would absorb 1000 ppm at 1550 nm [31,32]. showing a thermal noise improvement of up to 41 % at 20 K. In the case of a decrease in absorption with temperature, more Ti:Ta 2 O 5 layers could be replaced by Si 3 N 4 and the thermal noise improvement would increase.…”

Section: B Relevance For Coating Thermal Noise Reductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical absorption of silicon nitride membranes at 1064 nm and at 1550 nm

et al. 2017

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Due to a low mechanical loss, thin films made of silicon nitride (Si3N4) are interesting for fundamental research and development in the field of gravitational-wave detection. Si3N4-membranes allow for the characterization of quantum radiation pressure noise (RPN), which will be a limiting noise source in gravitational-wave detectors of the 2nd and 3rd generation. Furthermore, Si3N4 is an interesting material for possible thermal noise reduction in highly-reflective mirror coatings. For both applications, the optical absorption of Si3N4 needs to be low. This paper presents absorption measurements on low-stress Si3N4 membranes showing an absorption a factor of seven lower at 1550 nm than at 1064 nm resulting in an estimated two-times higher sensitivity in RPN experiments at the higher wavelength and making Si3N4 an interesting material for highly-reflective multi-material mirror coatings at 1550 nm.

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Section: B Relevance For Coating Thermal Noise Reductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical absorption of silicon nitride membranes at 1064 nm and at 1550 nm

et al. 2017

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“…However, a-Si has a significantly higher optical absorption than Ta 2 O 5 at 1064 nm [30]. The absorption reduces at 1.55 μm [31] but is still far above the requirements for GW detectors.…”

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confidence: 97%

Silicon-Based Optical Mirror Coatings for Ultrahigh Precision Metrology and Sensing

et al. 2018

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Thermal noise of highly reflective mirror coatings is a major limit to the sensitivity of many precision laser experiments with strict requirements such as low optical absorption. Here, we investigate amorphous silicon and silicon nitride as an alternative to the currently used combination of coating materials, silica, and tantala. We demonstrate an improvement by a factor of ≈55 with respect to the lowest so far reported optical absorption of amorphous silicon at near-infrared wavelengths. This reduction was achieved via a combination of heat treatment, final operation at low temperature, and a wavelength of 2 μm instead of the more commonly used 1550 nm. Our silicon-based coating offers a factor of 12 thermal noise reduction compared to the performance possible with silica and tantala at 20 K. In gravitational-wave detectors, a noise reduction by a factor of 12 corresponds to an increase in the average detection rate by three orders of magnitude (≈12 3 ).

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“…In reality, aSi can have significantly lower mechanical loss than tantala, resulting in even larger thermal noise improvements than estimated above. However, while aSi is highly attractive from a thermal noise perspective, direct replacement of tantala by aSi is unlikely to be possible due to the high optical absorption observed in commercial ion beam-sputtered aSi coatings [69].…”

Section: Multi-materials Coatingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of Mirror Coatings for Gravitational Wave Detectors

Reid

Martin

2016

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Abstract:The first detections of gravitational waves, GW150914 and GW151226, were associated with the coalescence of stellar mass black holes, heralding the opening of an entirely new way to observe the Universe. Many decades of development were invested to achieve the sensitivities required to observe gravitational waves, with peak strains associated with GW150914 at the level of 10 −21 . Gravitational wave detectors currently operate as modified Michelson interferometers, where thermal noise associated with the highly reflective mirror coatings sets a critical limit to the sensitivity of current and future instruments. This article presents an overview of the mirror coating development relevant to gravitational wave detection and the prospective for future developments in the field.

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Optical absorption of ion-beam sputtered amorphous silicon coatings

Cited by 23 publications

References 23 publications

Optical absorption of silicon nitride membranes at 1064 nm and at 1550 nm

Optical absorption of silicon nitride membranes at 1064 nm and at 1550 nm

Silicon-Based Optical Mirror Coatings for Ultrahigh Precision Metrology and Sensing

Development of Mirror Coatings for Gravitational Wave Detectors

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