Measurements of a low temperature mechanical dissipation peak in a single layer of Ta2O5 doped with TiO2

Understand

Thermal noise arising from mechanical dissipation in oxide coatings is a major limitation to many precision measurement systems, including optical frequency standards, high resolution optical spectroscopy and interferometric gravity wave detectors.

• Presented here are measurements of dissipation as a function of temperature between 7 K and 290 K in ion-beam sputtered Ta2O5 doped with TiO2, showing a loss peak at 20 K.
• Analysis of the peak provides the first evidence of the source of dissipation in doped Ta2O5 coatings, leading to possibilities for the reduction of thermal noise effects.