No Arabic abstract
We report on experimental observation of radiation-pressure induced effects in a high-power optical cavity. These effects play an important role in next generation gravitational wave (GW) detectors, as well as in quantum non-demolition (QND) interferometers. We measure the properties of an optical spring, created by coupling of an intense laser field to the pendulum mode of a suspended mirror; and also the parametric instability (PI) that arises from the nonlinear coupling between acoustic modes of the cavity mirrors and the cavity optical mode. Specifically, we measure an optical rigidity of $K = 3 times 10^4$ N/m, and PI value $R = 3$.
We report on the first demonstration of a fully suspended 10m Fabry-Perot cavity incorporating a waveguide grating as the coupling mirror. The cavity was kept on resonance by reading out the length fluctuations via the Pound-Drever-Hall method and employing feedback to the laser frequency. From the achieved finesse of 790 the grating reflectivity was determined to exceed 99.2% at the laser wavelength of 1064,nm, which is in good agreement with rigorous simulations. Our waveguide grating design was based on tantala and fused silica and included a ~20nm thin etch stop layer made of Al2O3 that allowed us to define the grating depth accurately during the fabrication process. Demonstrating stable operation of a waveguide grating featuring high reflectivity in a suspended low-noise cavity, our work paves the way for the potential application of waveguide gratings as mirrors in high-precision interferometry, for instance in future gravitational wave observatories.
Diffraction gratings have been proposed as core elements in future laser-interferometric gravitational-wave detectors. In this paper, we use a steady-state technique to derive coupling of lateral grating displacement to the output ports of a diffractive Fabry-Perot cavity. By introducing a signal to noise ratio (SNR) for each of the three cavity output ports the magnitude of the noise sidebands originating from lateral grating displacement are compared to the magnitude of a potential gravitational wave signal. For the example of a 3km long Fabry-Perot cavity featuring parameters similar to the planned Advanced Virgo instrument, we found that the forward-reflecting grating port offers the highest SNR at low frequencies. Furthermore, for this example suspension requirements for lateral isolation were computed, and a factor of twenty relaxation at a frequency of 10Hz can be gained over the transmitted port by observing the forward-reflected port.
Fiber-based optical microcavities exhibit high quality factor and low mode volume resonances that make them attractive for coupling light to individual atoms or other microscopic systems. Moreover, their low mass should lead to excellent mechanical response up to high frequencies, opening the possibility for high bandwidth stabilization of the cavity length. Here, we demonstrate a locking bandwidth of 44 kHz achieved using a simple, compact design that exploits these properties. Owing to the simplicity of fiber feedthroughs and lack of free-space alignment, this design is inherently compatible with vacuum and cryogenic environments. We measure the transfer function of the feedback circuit (closed-loop) and the cavity mount itself (open-loop), which, combined with simulations of the mechanical response of our device, provide insight into underlying limitations of the design as well as further improvements that can be made.
Phase coherence of charge carriers leads to electron-wave interference in ballistic mesoscopic conductors. In graphene, such Fabry-Perot-like interference has been observed, but a detailed analysis has been complicated by the two-dimensional nature of conduction, which allows for complex interference patterns. In this work, we have achieved high-quality Fabry-Perot interference in a suspended graphene device, both in conductance and in shot noise, and analyzed their structure using Fourier transform techniques. The Fourier analysis reveals two sets of overlapping, coexisting interferences, with the ratios of the diamonds being equal to the width to length ratio of the device. We attribute these sets to a unique coexistence of longitudinal and transverse resonances, with the longitudinal resonances originating from the bunching of modes with low transverse momentum. Furthermore, our results give insight into the renormalization of the Fermi velocity in suspended graphene samples, caused by unscreened many-body interactions.
Optical forces in guided-wave nanostructures have recently been proposed as an effective means of mechanically actuating and tuning optical components. In this work, we study the properties of a photonic crystal optomechanical cavity consisting of a pair of patterned silicon nitride nanobeams. Internal stresses in the stoichiometric silicon nitride thin-film are used to produce inter-beam slot-gaps ranging from 560 to 40nm. A general pump-probe measurement scheme is described which determines, self-consistently, the contributions of thermo-mechanical, thermo-optic, and radiation pressure effects. For devices with 40nm slot-gap, the optical gradient force is measured to be 134fN per cavity photon for the strongly coupled symmetric cavity supermode, producing a static cavity tuning greater than five times that of either the parasitic thermo-mechanical or thermo-optic effects.