TY - JOUR
AU - Garrett Cole
AU - W. Zhang
AU - M. Martin
AU - Jun Ye
AU - Markus Aspelmeyer
AB - Thermally induced fluctuations impose a fundamental limit on precision measurement. In optical interferometry, the current bounds of stability and sensitivity are dictated by the excess mechanical damping of the high-reflectivity coatings that comprise the cavity end mirrors. Over the last decade, the dissipation of these amorphous multilayer reflectors has at best been reduced by a factor of two. Here, we demonstrate a new paradigm in optical coating technology based on directbonded monocrystalline multilayers, which exhibit both intrinsically low mechanical loss and high optical quality. Employing these ‘crystalline coatings’ as end mirrors in a Fabry–Pe´rot cavity, we obtain a finesse of 150,000. More importantly, at room temperature, we observe a thermally limited noise floor consistent with a tenfold reduction in mechanical damping when compared with the best dielectric multilayers. These results pave the way for the next generation of ultra-sensitive interferometers, as well as for new levels of laser stability.
BT - Nature Photonics
DA - 2013-07
DO - 10.1038/nphoton.2013.174
N2 - Thermally induced fluctuations impose a fundamental limit on precision measurement. In optical interferometry, the current bounds of stability and sensitivity are dictated by the excess mechanical damping of the high-reflectivity coatings that comprise the cavity end mirrors. Over the last decade, the dissipation of these amorphous multilayer reflectors has at best been reduced by a factor of two. Here, we demonstrate a new paradigm in optical coating technology based on directbonded monocrystalline multilayers, which exhibit both intrinsically low mechanical loss and high optical quality. Employing these ‘crystalline coatings’ as end mirrors in a Fabry–Pe´rot cavity, we obtain a finesse of 150,000. More importantly, at room temperature, we observe a thermally limited noise floor consistent with a tenfold reduction in mechanical damping when compared with the best dielectric multilayers. These results pave the way for the next generation of ultra-sensitive interferometers, as well as for new levels of laser stability.
PY - 2013
SP - 644
EP - 650
T2 - Nature Photonics
TI - Tenfold reduction of Brownian noise in high-reflectivity optical coatings
UR - http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/nphoton.2013.174
VL - 7
SN - 1749-4885
ER -