Demonstration of a cavity coupler based on a resonant waveguide grating

authored by: Frank Brückner, Daniel Friedrich, Tina Clausnitzer, Oliver Burmeister, Michael Britzger, Ernst Bernhard Kley, Karsten Danzmann, Andreas Tünnermann, Roman Schnabel
Abstract: Thermal noise in multilayer optical coatings may not only limit the sensitivity of future gravitational wave detectors in their most sensitive frequency band but is also a major impediment for experiments that aim to reach the standard quantum limit or to cool mechanical systems to their quantum ground state. Here, we present the experimental realization and characterization of a cavity coupler, which is based on a surface relief guided-mode resonant grating. Since the required thickness of the dielectric coating is dramatically decreased compared to conventional mirrors, it is expected to provide low mechanical loss and, thus, low thermal noise. The cavity coupler was incorporated into a Fabry-Perot resonator together with a conventional high quality mirror. The finesse of this cavity was measured to be F = 657, which corresponds to a coupler reflectivity of R = 99.08 %.
Organisation(s): Institute of Gravitation Physics
External Organisation(s): Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
Type: Article
Journal: Optics express
Volume: 17
Pages: 163-169
No. of pages: 7
ISSN: 1094-4087
Publication date: 05.01.2009
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.17.000163 (Access: Open)

BibTeX

@article{cf554a381f5241119e221dc1d13d82a6,
title = "Demonstration of a cavity coupler based on a resonant waveguide grating",
abstract = "Thermal noise in multilayer optical coatings may not only limit the sensitivity of future gravitational wave detectors in their most sensitive frequency band but is also a major impediment for experiments that aim to reach the standard quantum limit or to cool mechanical systems to their quantum ground state. Here, we present the experimental realization and characterization of a cavity coupler, which is based on a surface relief guided-mode resonant grating. Since the required thickness of the dielectric coating is dramatically decreased compared to conventional mirrors, it is expected to provide low mechanical loss and, thus, low thermal noise. The cavity coupler was incorporated into a Fabry-Perot resonator together with a conventional high quality mirror. The finesse of this cavity was measured to be F = 657, which corresponds to a coupler reflectivity of R = 99.08 %.",
author = "Frank Br{\"u}ckner and Daniel Friedrich and Tina Clausnitzer and Oliver Burmeister and Michael Britzger and Kley, {Ernst Bernhard} and Karsten Danzmann and Andreas T{\"u}nnermann and Roman Schnabel",
year = "2009",
month = jan,
day = "5",
doi = "10.1364/OE.17.000163",
language = "English",
volume = "17",
pages = "163--169",
journal = "Optics express",
issn = "1094-4087",
publisher = "OSA - The Optical Society",
number = "1",
}