OSE Seminar by Dr. Mariana Fazio on High index materials with low mechanical loss for gravitational wave detectors

Departmental News

Posted: September 27, 2019

Date: Friday, October 4, 2019 

Time:  10:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Location:  P&A, Room 190

Map to Physics:

http://physics.unm.edu/findpanda/

ADA Accommodations are available.

Speaker:

Dr. Mariana Fazio

Colorado State University

Abstract:

Interferometric gravitational wave detectors such as Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo have ushered in a new era in Astronomy. Advanced LIGO is currently in its third observing run and setting its sight on the upcoming A+ upgrade with a clear goal of increasing the detector sensitivity. For these interferometric detectors, the sensitivity is limited mainly by quantum noise and thermal noise. With the introduction of squeezed light, reducing thermal noise is of paramount importance to achieve the sensitivity goals. The thermal noise is associated with the Brownian motion of the multilayer stacks that compose the end masses of the interferometers, with its main source being the mechanical loss of the high index layer. I will present a brief overview on the current understanding of mechanical loss and will focus on the research carried out by our group in search for novel high index materials. 

 Biography:

Mariana Fazio is a postdoc at the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Colorado State University and is a member of the LIGO collaboration. Mariana's work focuses on optical coatings for gravitational wave detectors, specifically in developing high index materials with low mechanical loss at room temperature. Mariana got her Ph.D. at the Plasma Physics Institute at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she worked in diamond-like coatings grown by vacuum arc.