A technique for continuous measurement of the quality factor of mechanical oscillators
- Creators
- Smith, Nicolás D.
Abstract
Thermal noise is a limit to precision measurement in many fields. The relationship of the quality factor of mechanical systems to the thermal noise has compelled many researchers to search for materials with low mechanical losses. Typical measurements of mechanical quality factor involve exciting a mechanical resonator and observing the exponential decay of the amplitude under free oscillations. Estimation of the decay time allows one to infer the quality factor. In this article, we describe an alternative technique in which the resonator is forced to oscillate at constant amplitude, and the quality factor is estimated by measuring the drive amplitude required to maintain constant oscillation amplitude. A straightforward method for calibration of the quality factor is presented, along with an analysis of the propagation of measurement uncertainties. Such a technique allows the quality factor to be measured continuously in real time and at constant signal to noise ratio.
Additional Information
© 2015 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Received 8 January 2015; accepted 29 April 2015; published online 15 May 2015. The author would like to thank Koji Arai, W. Zach Korth, Tobin Fricke, Yuta Michimura, Matthew Abernathy, and Lisa Barsotti for useful discussions and comments, and Shiuh Chao for providing one of the silicon resonators used in this article. LIGO was constructed by the California Institute of Technology and Massachusetts Institute of Technology with funding from the National Science Foundation and operates under Cooperative Agreement No. PHY-0757058. This paper carries LIGO Document No. LIGO-P1400183.Attached Files
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 57931
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20150602-094933046
- PHY-0757058
- NSF
- Created
-
2015-06-02Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Other Numbering System Name
- LIGO Document
- Other Numbering System Identifier
- LIGO-P1400183