Developing low noise coatings for GW detectors, using next generation techniques such as ECR ion-beam deposition, and plasma-assisted deposition.

2015年9月14日，Advanced LIGO宣布首次直接探测到来自两个黑洞碰撞的引力波。这一宣布被许多人誉为“世纪的科学突破”，并开辟了一个全新的方式来观察宇宙。UWS是LIGO科学合作组织的正式成员，在国际社会中发挥着关键作用，为未来的探测器升级开发激光反射镜技术。该项目由STFC（英国）在天体粒子研究领域的资金支持，因此将专注于开发GW探测器的低噪声涂层，使用下一代技术，如ECR离子束沉积和等离子体辅助沉积。由镜面涂层中的机械耗散引起的热噪声预计将对未来所有引力波探测器的灵敏度设置重要限制。UWS最近已经证明了制造具有低机械和光学损耗水平的新型非晶硅薄膜的能力。该项目将专注于使用这种新技术开发多层HR涂层，如硅/二氧化硅和硅/氧化铝，并评估这些涂层在升级到Advanced LIGO以及未来天文台（如爱因斯坦望远镜）中的使用。还将考虑许多衍生应用，例如用于环境监测应用的超低光损耗红外滤光片。

On 14th September 2015, Advanced LIGO announced the first direct detection of gravitational waves, from two black holes colliding. This announcement was heralded by many people as the "scientific breakthrough of the century", and opens up an entirely new way to observe the Universe. UWS is a full member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, and plays a key role within the international community in relation to developing laser mirror technology for future detector upgrades. This project is supported through the STFC (UK) funding within this area of astroparticle research, and will thus be focussed on developing low noise coatings for GW detectors, using next generation techniques such as ECR ion-beam deposition, and plasma-assisted deposition. Thermal noise arising from the mechanical dissipation in the mirror coatings is expected to set an important limit to the sensitivity of all future gravitational wave detectors. UWS has recently demonstrated the ability to fabricate novel amorphous silicon films that exhibit low levels of mechanical and optical losses. This project will focus on the development of multilayer HR coatings using this novel technology, such as silicon/silica and silicon/alumina, and evaluate these for use within upgrades to Advanced LIGO in addition to future observatories such as the Einstein Telescope. Numerous spin-out applications will also be considered, such as ultra-low optical loss infrared filters for environmental monitoring applications.