title: Stable, mode-matched, medium-finesse optical cavity incorporating a microcantilever mirror: optical characterization and laser cooling.
abstract: A stable optical resonator has been built using a 30-microm-wide, metal-coated microcantilever as one mirror. The second mirror was a 12.7-mm-diameter concave dielectric mirror. By positioning the two mirrors 75 mm apart in a near-hemispherical configuration, a Fabry-Perot cavity with a finesse equal to 55 was achieved. The finesse was limited by the optical loss in the cantilever's metal coating; diffraction losses from the small mirror were negligible. The cavity achieved passive laser cooling of the cantilever's Brownian motion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Yale University, P.O. Box 208284, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
authors.forename: J G E
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Zwickl
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Jayich
mesh_terms: D007834:Lasers; D008670:Metals
chemical_list: D008670:Metals