title: Demonstration of a cavity coupler based on a resonant waveguide grating.
abstract: Thermal noise in multilayer optical coatings may not only limit the sensitivity of future gravitational wave detectors in their most sensitive frequency band but is also a major impediment for experiments that aim to reach the standard quantum limit or to cool mechanical systems to their quantum ground state. Here, we present the experimental realization and characterization of a cavity coupler, which is based on a surface relief guided ode resonant grating. Since the required thickness of the dielectric coating is dramatically decreased compared to conventional mirrors, it is expected to provide low mechanical loss and, thus, low thermal noise. The cavity coupler was incorporated into a Fabry-Perot resonator together with a conventional high quality mirror. The finesse of this cavity was measured to be F = 657, which corresponds to a coupler reflectivity of R = 99.08 %.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Angewandte Physik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Jena, Germany. frank.brueckner@uni-jena.de
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brückner
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Friedrich
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Clausnitzer
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Burmeister
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Britzger
authors.forename: Ernst-Bernhard
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Kley
authors.forename: Karsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Danzmann
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tünnermann
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schnabel
mesh_terms: D000388:Air; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004563:Electrochemistry; D004867:Equipment Design; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D049329:Nanostructures; D055095:Optics and Photonics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010087:Oxides; D012031:Refractometry; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D013635:Tantalum
chemical_list: D010087:Oxides; D013635:Tantalum; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; C078151:tantalum oxide