Optical absorption measurement at 1550 nm on a highly-reflective Si/SiO 2 coating stack
Open accessAbstract
Future laser-interferometric gravitational wave detectors (GWDs) will potentially employ test mass mirrors from crystalline silicon and a laser wavelength of 1550 nm, which corresponds to a photon energy below the silicon bandgap. Silicon might also be an attractive high-refractive index material for the dielectric mirror coatings. Films of amorphous silicon (a-Si), however, have been found to be significantly more absorptive at 1550 nm than crystalline silicon (c-Si). Here, we investigate the optical absorption of a Si/SiO 2 dielectric coating produced with the ion plating technique. The ion plating technique is distinct from the standard state-of-the-art ion beam sputtering technique since it uses a higher processing temperature of about 250 °C, higher particle energies, and generally results in higher refractive indices of the deposited films. Our coating stack was fabricated for a reflectivity of R = 99.95% for s-polarized light at 1550 nm and for an angle of incidence of 44°. We used the photothermal self-phase modulation technique to measure the coating absorption in s-polarization and p-polarization. We obtained and . These results correspond to an absorption coefficient which is lower than literature values for a-Si which vary from 100 cm −1 up to 2000 cm −1 . It is, however, still orders of magnitude higher than expected for c-Si and thus still too high for GWD applications.
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Silicon dioxide (SiO2) is the most commonly used material to fabricate dielectric mirrors.
“The most commonly used material to fabricate dielectric mirrors is silicon dioxide (SiO2).”
From Metal Oxide Thin Films for Advanced Photonic Applications (2026) · cites this paper as [34]
The Introduction (p. 1) describes silica (SiO2) and tantala as the materials in well-established dielectric mirror coatings for gravitational-wave detectors. This supports SiO2 as an established mirror-coating material, but not the broader claim that it is the most commonly used material for dielectric mirrors generally. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe SiO2/TiO2 pair offers the largest optical contrast, making it suitable for high-reflectance dielectric mirrors with a smaller number of pairs and sharper stopbands.
“However, the pair SiO2/TiO2 offers the largest optical contrast, rendering it perfect for high-reflectance dielectric mirrors with a smaller number of pairs and sharper stopbands.”
From Metal Oxide Thin Films for Advanced Photonic Applications (2026) · cites this paper as [34]
The Introduction (p. 2) says that silicon’s high refractive index reduces the number of layers needed for a highly reflective Si/SiO2 coating. Our copy does not address the claimed optical contrast of a SiO2/TiO2 pair or its effect on stopband sharpness (searched: TiO2, titania, optical contrast, stopband). (LLM, conf=0.76)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
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Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [22][22] Degallaix J et al. 2012 Presentation at the 4th Einstein Telescope Symposium: December 4th 2012, Hannover, Germany , https://tds.egogw.it/itf/tds/file.php?callFile=ET-0024A-12.pdf -
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Metal Oxide Thin Films for Advanced Photonic Applications
Stîngescu, M.-L., Șopronyi, M.-A., Antohe, Ș., & Scărișoreanu, N.-D. (2026) · Crystals · doi:10.3390/cryst16030164 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“…transparency and low refractive index (tuneable through the underlying deposition method and parameters—will be subsequently discussed), it provides sufficient optical contrast when paired with materials such as TiO 2 , ZrO 2 , HfO 2 , Ta 2 O 5 , Nb 2 O 5 and even Al 2 O 3 , among others [27–34].”
- Authors
- Steinlechner, J., Khalaidovski, A., & Schnabel, R.
- Affiliations
- Leibniz University Hannover (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Schnabel, Roman
- Venue
- Classical and Quantum Gravity
- Publisher
- IOP Publishing
- Published
- 2014-04-29
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 105005
- ISSN
- 0264-9381 (ISSN-L)
- 1361-6382
- OpenAlex
- W2051916405
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 2 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 0.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- arxiv.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Classical and Quantum Gravity (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- ENLIGHTEN (Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam) (submittedVersion)
- Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Surfaces, Coatings and Films › Optical Coatings and Gratings
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Mechanical and Optical Resonators
- Keywords
- optical absorption, crystalline silicon, amorphous silicon, ion plating, dielectric mirror coatings, gravitational wave detectors, 1550 nm, polarization dependence, high reflectivity, refractive index
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