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Reducing the effect of thermal noise in optical cavities

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Abstract

Thermal noise in optical cavities imposes a severe limitation in the stability of the most advanced frequency standards at a level of a few \(10^{-16}\sqrt{\hbox{s}/\tau}\) for long averaging times τ. In this paper, we describe two schemes for reducing the effect of thermal noise in a reference cavity. In the first approach, we investigate the potential and limitations of operating the cavity close to instability, where the beam diameter on the mirrors becomes large. Our analysis shows that even a 10-cm short cavity can achieve a thermal-noise-limited fractional frequency instability in the low 10−16 regime. In the second approach, we increase the length of the optical cavity. We show that a 39.5-cm long cavity has the potential for a fractional frequency instability even below 10−16, while it seems feasible to achieve a reduced sensitivity of <10−10/g for vibration-induced fractional length changes in all three directions.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the DFG through the Centre for Quantum Engineering and Space-Time Research (QUEST), by ESA through TRP AO4640/05/NL/PM and GSTP AO/1-6530/10/ NL/NA and by the European Metrology Research Program (EMRP). JRP SIB04. J.B.W. acknowledges support from the Hannover School for Laser, Optics and Space-Time Research (HALOSTAR) and the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. QUEST Institute, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, 38116, Braunschweig, Germany

    Sana Amairi, Thomas Kessler, Jannes B. Wübbena, Olaf Mandel & Piet O. Schmidt

  2. Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, 38116, Braunschweig, Germany

    Thomas Legero & Uwe Sterr

  3. Institut für Quantenoptik, Leibniz Universität Hannover, 30167, Hannover, Germany

    Piet O. Schmidt

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  1. Sana Amairi
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Correspondence to Sana Amairi.

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Amairi, S., Legero, T., Kessler, T. et al. Reducing the effect of thermal noise in optical cavities. Appl. Phys. B 113, 233–242 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-013-5464-8

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