Mechanical Dissipation in Silicon Flexures

TL;DR

This study measures the mechanical dissipation in silicon cantilevers across a wide temperature range, revealing low dissipation levels that are promising for gravitational wave detector components.

Contribution

It provides new empirical data on silicon's thermo-mechanical dissipation properties relevant for high-precision optical applications.

Findings

Dissipation approaches phi = 4.4E-7 at low temperatures

Measured dissipation over 85 K to 300 K

Silicon shows promising low-loss characteristics

Abstract

The thermo-mechanical properties of silicon make it of significant interest as a possible material for mirror substrates and suspension elements for future long-baseline gravitational wave detectors. The mechanical dissipation in 92um thick <110> single-crystal silicon cantilevers has been observed over the temperature range 85 K to 300 K, with dissipation approaching levels down to phi = 4.4E-7.