Development of Mirror Coatings for Gravitational Wave Detectors
Source abstract
Abstract
The first detections of gravitational waves, GW150914 and GW151226, were associated with the coalescence of stellar mass black holes, heralding the opening of an entirely new way to observe the Universe. Many decades of development were invested to achieve the sensitivities required to observe gravitational waves, with peak strains associated with GW150914 at the level of 10−21. Gravitational wave detectors currently operate as modified Michelson interferometers, where thermal noise associated with the highly reflective mirror coatings sets a critical limit to the sensitivity of current and future instruments. This article presents an overview of the mirror coating development relevant to gravitational wave detection and the prospective for future developments in the field.
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Research context
OpenAlex topics: Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research · Geophysics and Sensor Technology · Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
SUPA, Institute of Thin Films, Sensors & Imaging, School of Engineering and Computing, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley PA1 2BE, UK
SUPA, Institute for Gravitational Research, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
Funding
STFC · Royal Society
References (85)
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