Investigations of Thermal Noise in Mirror Coatings and Optic Materials for Advanced LIGO, and Investigations of Higher-Order Statistical Noise in Initial LIGO

先进 LIGO 镜面涂层和光学材料中的热噪声研究，以及初始 LIGO 中高阶统计噪声的研究

• 批准号: 0245118
• 负责人: Steven Penn
• 金额: $ 2.51万
• 依托单位: Hobart and William Smith Colleges
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-08-15 至 2004-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0245118&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Investigations; Thermal; Noise; Mirror; Coatings

This award supports research into the thermal and mechanical noise of optical materials and coatings considered for use by the next generation of the Laser Interferometric Gravitational wave Observatory (Advanced LIGO). The test masses for Advanced LIGO are to be made from either sapphire or fused silica. Sapphire is mechanically superior under most criteria but suffers from increased loss at low frequencies and, at present, unacceptably high optical absorption. Fused silica has low absorption and has a mechanical loss that, for suitably prepared samples, is below the Advanced LIGO design limits. However, this low mechanical loss has never been seen in large samples. The PI in collaboration with other LIGO scientists will study loss mechanisms in fused silica in an effort to make large, low loss optics.LIGO and Advanced LIGO are designed to search for gravitational waves whose direct detection would open a new window on some of the universe's most violent events such as black hole collisions and supernova explosions. This research forms part of the critical path to the development of Advanced LIGO. Undergraduates will participate in this research.

该奖项支持对下一代激光干涉引力波天文台（Advanced LIGO）使用的光学材料和涂层的热和机械噪声的研究。Advanced LIGO的测试质量块将由蓝宝石或熔融石英制成。蓝宝石在大多数标准下具有优良的机械上级性能，但是在低频下具有增加的损耗，并且目前具有不可接受的高光学吸收。熔融二氧化硅具有低吸收性，并且对于适当制备的样品，具有低于Advanced LIGO设计限制的机械损失。然而，这种低机械损耗在大样品中从未见过。PI将与其他LIGO科学家合作，研究熔融石英中的损耗机制，以努力制造大型、低损耗的光学器件。LIGO和Advanced LIGO旨在寻找引力波，其直接探测将为宇宙中一些最剧烈的事件（如黑洞碰撞和超新星爆炸）打开新的窗口。这项研究是先进LIGO发展的关键路径的一部分。本科生将参与这项研究。