Large and extremely low loss: the unique challenges of gravitational wave mirrors.

This paper describes the making of large mirrors for laser interferometer gravitational wave detectors. These optics, working in the near infrared, are among the best optics ever created and played a crucial role in the first direct detection of gravitational waves from black holes or neutron star fusions.

Optical performance of large-area crystalline coatings.

Given their excellent optical and mechanical properties, substrate-transferred crystalline coatings are an exciting alternative to amorphous multilayers for applications in precision interferometry. The high mechanical quality factor of these single-crystal interference coatings reduces the limiting thermal noise in precision optical instruments such as reference cavities for narrow-linewidth laser systems and interferometric gravitational wave detectors. In this manuscript, we explore the optical performance of GaAs/AlGaAs crystalline coatings transferred to 50.8-mm (2-inch) diameter fused silica and sapphire substrates. We present results for the transmission, scattering, absorption, and surface quality of these prototype samples including the defect density and micro-roughness. These novel coatings exhibit optical performance on par with state-of-the-art dielectric structures, encouraging further work focused on the fabrication of larger optics using this technique.

Cryogenic measurements of mechanical loss of high-reflectivity coating and estimation of thermal noise.

We report on low-frequency measurements of the mechanical loss of a high-quality (transmissivity T<5 ppm at λ(0)=1064 nm, absorption loss <0.5 ppm) multilayer dielectric coating of ion-beam-sputtered fused silica and titanium-doped tantala in the 10-300 K temperature range. A useful parameter for the computation of coating thermal noise on different substrates is derived as a function of temperature and frequency.

Bulk optical absorption of high resistivity silicon at 1550 nm.

We report on the measurement of the optical absorption of bulk crystalline silicon at 1550 nm. Using the photodeflection technique, absorption as low as 5 ppm/cm has been measured on a sample with a resistivity of 10 kΩ·cm. The absorption as a function of the resistivity has been derived for n-type silicon.

Twin mirrors for laser interferometric gravitational-wave detectors.

Gravitational-wave detectors such as Virgo and the laser interferometric gravitational-wave observatory (LIGO) use a long-baseline Michelson interferometer with Fabry-Perot cavities in the arms to search for gravitational waves. The symmetry between the two Fabry-Perot cavities is crucial to reduce the interferometer's sensitivity to the laser amplitude and frequency noise. To this purpose, the transmittance of the mirrors in both cavities should be as close as possible. This paper describes the realization and the characterization of the first twin large low-loss mirrors with transmissions differing by less than 0.01%.

Ion beam sputtering coatings on large substrates: toward an improvement of the mechanical and optical performances.

Large mirrors (ø350 mm) having extremely low optical loss (absorption, scattering, wavefront) were coated for the VIRGO interferometer. The new generation of mirrors needs to have a better wavefront and lower mechanical loss. To improve the component wavefront, the corrective coating technique was used. By doping the tantalum pentoxide layers, we improved, for the first time to our knowledge, the multilayer mechanical loss. The first results are discussed.