Low-loss grating for coupling to a high-finesse cavity

A concept for a low-loss all-reflective cavity coupler is experimentally demonstrated at a wavelength of 1064 nm. A 1450-nm period dielectric reflection grating with a diffraction efficiency of 0.58% in the - 1st order is used in the 2nd-order Littrow configuration as a coupler to form a cavity with a finesse of 400. The application of such reflective low-loss cavity couplers in future generations of gravitational-wave detectors and implementation issues are discussed.     

Phase effects in the diffraction of light: beyond the grating equation

Diffraction gratings affect the absolute phase of light in a way that is not obvious from the usual derivation of optical paths using the grating equation. For example, consider light which encounters first one and then the second of two parallel gratings. If one grating is moved parallel to its surface, the phase of the light diffracted from the grating pair is shifted by 2pi each time the grating is moved by one grating constant, even though the geometric path length is not altered by the motion. This additional phase shift must be included when incorporating diffraction gratings in interferometers.     

Phase mixing in the critical region of the ferroelectric phase transition in KD2PO4

A novel neutron high resolution double crystal arrangement has been used to measure changes in d-spacing, d-spread and mosaicity through the first order ferroelectric phase transition of DKDP. Coexistence of both para and ferroelectric phases was directly observed in the range T_c to T_c — 3 K. No hysteresis could be detected within the precision of the temperature measurement (10^-3K). The origin of the overshoot effect has been elucidated.     

Broadband iridium wire grid polarizer for UV applications

In this Letter, we present an iridium wire grid polarizer with a large spectral working range from IR down to the UV spectral region. The required grating period of 100 nm for an application below a wavelength of 300 nm was realized using a spatial frequency doubling technique based on ultrafast electron beam writing. The optical performance of the polarizer at a wavelength of 300 nm is a transmittance of almost 60% and an extinction ratio of about 30 (15 dB). Furthermore, the oxidation resistance is discussed.     

Monolithic dielectric surfaces as new low-loss light-matter interfaces

We propose a new mirror architecture, which is solely based upon structuring of the surface of a monolithic, possibly monocrystalline, bulk material. We found that a structure of T-shaped ridges of a subwavelength grating can theoretically provide 100% reflectivity. Since no material needs to be added to the mirror device, lowest mechanical loss can also be expected. Our approach might have compelling applications as a new light-matter interface.     

Rate constant for the infrared emission of the NO(CΠ → AΣ) transition

The reaction of O- and N-atoms produces NO(C²Π) molecules by inverse predissociation. At low total pressure NO(A²Σ⁺) molecules are exclusively formed from NO(C²Π) by

NO(C²Π) → NO(A²Σ⁺)+hv

Untersuchung von Tee

Ohne Zusammenfassung