Radiation pressure effects in a suspended Fabry-Perot cavity

We report on experimental observation of radiation-pressure induced effects in a high-power optical cavity. These effects play an important role in next generation gravitational wave detectors, as well as quantum non-demolition devices. We describe two experiments in which a low-transmission input mirror and near-perfectly-reflective end mirror are suspended as pendulums. A unified model of optomechanical coupling is presented, whereby a strong coherent laser field interacts with a classical harmonic oscillator. We show that such a system is well described using standard techniques from control theory. We measure the properties of an optical spring, whereby the optical field increases the rigidity of the pendulum mode of the mirrors; during our first (Phase 1) experiment, we measure an optical rigidity of K = (3.08 t 0.09) x 104 N/m, corresponding to an optical rigidity that is 6000 times stiffer than the mechanical stiffness. In our second (Phase 2) experiment with higher finesse and lower mirror mass, we find an unprecedented optical rigidity Ko = (9.60 ± 0.12) x 105 N/m. We also measure and characterize the parametric instability, caused by the coupling of the cavity field to the acoustic modes of the mirror, and find an instability strength R - 3.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Pelc, Jason, 1984-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Nergis Mavalvala.

• Physics.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/36124

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/36124