Birefringence measurements on crystalline silicon
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Alexander Khalaidovski; Ronny Nawrodt; Christoph Krüger; Roman Schnabel; Harald Lück; D. Heinert; Jessica Steinlechner
- Source
- Classical and Quantum Gravity, 33(1):015012. IOP Publishing Ltd.
Classical and quantum gravity
Classical and Quantum Gravity 33 (2015), Nr. 1
- Subject
- Materials science
Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)
Silicon
OPTICAL ANISOTROPY
crystalline silicon
FOS: Physical sciences
chemistry.chemical_element
Physics::Optics
01 natural sciences
law.invention
Superposition principle
law
0103 physical sciences
ABSORPTION
ddc:530
Crystalline silicon
010306 general physics
Gravitationswelle
Birefringence
Einstein Telescope
Condensed matter physics
birefringence
010308 nuclear & particles physics
Laser
Wavelength
Interferometry
chemistry
gravitational wave detection
Dewey Decimal Classification::500 | Naturwissenschaften::530 | Physik
Einstein telescope
Optics (physics.optics)
Physics - Optics
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 0264-9381
Crystalline silicon has been proposed as a new test mass material in third generation gravitational wave detectors such as the Einstein Telescope (ET). Birefringence can reduce the interferometric contrast and can produce dynamical disturbances in interferometers. In this work we use the method of polarisation-dependent resonance frequency analysis of Fabry-Perot-cavities containing silicon as a birefringent medium. Our measurements show a birefringence of silicon along the (111) axis of the order of $\Delta\, n \approx 10^{-7}$ at a laser wavelength of 1550nm and room temperature. A model is presented that explains the results of different settings of our measurements as a superposition of elastic strains caused by external stresses in the sample and plastic strains possibly generated during the production process. An application of our theory on the proposed ET test mass geometry suggests no critical effect on birefringence due to elastic strains.
Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables