Coating targets
Published: 25 January 2022
Provision of ultrapure materials for fabricating high performance laser mirror coatings
The optical coatings required for gravitational wave detectors are fabricated by a process called ion beam deposition, where energetic ion beams are used to “knock” atoms off a target material, producing a spray of material that can be used to manufacture thin layers with precise optical properties.
The Newton-Bhabha partnership funded 6 different target materials, identified as the most relevant materials for the “Advanced+” gravitational wave detector upgrades, which are of direct relevant to LIGO India. This has enabled all of the visiting researcher from India, who spent time in the University of Strathclyde, to get hands-on experience of manufacturing and optimising various optical coating technologies, and supports the ongoing collaborations between various labs in the UK and India who are working in optics.
First published: 25 January 2022