Reducing thermal noise from optical coatings is crucial to reaching the required sensitivity in next generation interferometric gravitational-waves detectors. Here we show that adding TiO2 to Ta2O5 in Ta2O5/SiO2 coatings reduces the internal friction and in addition present data confirming it reduces thermal noise. We also show that TiO2-doped Ta2O5/SiO2 coatings are close to satisfying the optical absorption requirements of second generation gravitational-wave detectors.
@article{arxiv.gr-qc/0610004,
title = {Titania-doped tantala/silica coatings for gravitational-wave detection},
author = {Gregory M. Harry and Matthew R. Abernathy and Andres E. Becerra-Toledo and Helena Armandula and Eric Black and Kate Dooley and Matt Eichenfield and Chinyere Nwabugwu and Akira Villar and D. R. M. Crooks and Gianpietro Cagnoli and Jim Hough and Colin R. How and Ian MacLaren and Peter Murray and Stuart Reid and Sheila Rowan and Peter H. Sneddon and Martin M Fejer and Roger Route and Steven D. Penn and Patrick Ganau and Jean-Marie Mackowski and Christophe Michel and Laurent Pinard and Alban Remillieux},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:gr-qc/0610004},
year = {2008}
}