Abstract

Low-absorption optics made of OH-reduced fused silica are a key technology for future gravitational wave detectors such as the Advanced LIGO. We developed a sensitive method to measure the absorption inside the beam splitter of the GEO 600, taking advantage of the effect of thermal lensing. Using this method, we derived a bulk absorption of less than $0.25\mathrm{ppm}/\mathrm{cm}$ for a piece of Suprasil 311 SV at a wavelength of $1064\mathrm{nm}$. To the best of our knowledge, this is the lowest value of light absorption inside fused silica reported so far in the literature.

© 2006 Optical Society of America

Low scatter and ultra-low reflectivity measured in a fused silica window

Cinthia Padilla, Peter Fritschel, Fabian Magaña-Sandoval, Erik Muniz, Joshua R. Smith, and Liyuan Zhang
Appl. Opt. 53(7) 1315-1321 (2014)

Matrix heater in the gravitational wave observatory GEO 600

H. Wittel, C. Affeldt, A. Bisht, S. Doravari, H. Grote, J. Lough, H. Lück, E. Schreiber, K. A. Strain, and K. Danzmann
Opt. Express 26(18) 22687-22697 (2018)

Method for measuring small optical absorption coefficients with use of a Shack-Hartmann wave-front detector

Sanichiro Yoshida, David H. Reitze, David B. Tanner, and Justin D. Mansell
Appl. Opt. 42(24) 4835-4840 (2003)

Thermal noise from optical coatings in gravitational wave detectors

Gregory M. Harry, Helena Armandula, Eric Black, D. R. M. Crooks, Gianpietro Cagnoli, Jim Hough, Peter Murray, Stuart Reid, Sheila Rowan, Peter Sneddon, Martin M. Fejer, Roger Route, and Steven D. Penn
Appl. Opt. 45(7) 1569-1574 (2006)

Mirrors used in the LIGO interferometers for first detection of gravitational waves

L. Pinard, C. Michel, B. Sassolas, L. Balzarini, J. Degallaix, V. Dolique, R. Flaminio, D. Forest, M. Granata, B. Lagrange, N. Straniero, J. Teillon, and G. Cagnoli
Appl. Opt. 56(4) C11-C15 (2017)