Minimum noise optical coatings for interferometric detectors of gravitational waves

Abstract

Coating Brownian noise is the dominant noise term, in a frequency band from a few tens to a few hundreds Hz, for all Earth-bound detectors of gravitational waves. Minimizing such noise is mandatory to increase the visibility distance of these instruments, and eventually reach their quantum limit. Several strategies are possible to achieve this goal. Layer thickness optimization is the simplest option, yielding a sensible noise reduction with limited technological challenges. Experimental results confirm the accuracy of the underlying theory, and the robustness of the design.