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GR: Fachverband Gravitation und Relativitätstheorie
GR 4: Gravitationswellen II
GR 4.4: Talk
Tuesday, February 26, 2013, 14:45–15:00, HS 6
Silicon surfaces and its impact on gravitational wave detectors — •Christian Schwarz1, Julius Komma1, Gerd Hofmann1, Daniel Heinert1, Stefanie Kroker2, Andreas Tünnermann2, Paul Seidel1, and Ronny Nawrodt1 — 1Institut für Festkörperphysik, FSU Jena, Helmholtzweg 5, D-07743 Jena — 2Institut für Angewandte Physik, FSU Jena, Albert-Einstein-Strasse 15, D-07745 Jena
Gravitational wave detectors are one of the most precise measurement devices ever developed. Surface conditions can limit the noise performance of these devices effecting their mechanical and thermal properties (e.g. by phonon scattering). In order to change the sample surface different preparation techniques like mechanical polishing, dry and wet etching were used. We present detailed temperature dependent measurements on the mechanical loss φ and thermal conductivity κ of small flexures. All measurements were carried out in a temperature range from 5 to 300 K revealing mechanical losses as low as 3 × 10−8 at 10 K.
In order to extract the surface loss parameter we compare our measurements to values known from literature. It can be shown that the surface loss parameter of silicon is significantly smaller than for fused silica.
This work was supported by the German science foundation DFG under contract SFB TR7.