High-sensitivity optical measurement of mechanical Brownian motion

Authors
Hadjar, Y Cohadon, PF Aminoff, CG Pinard, M Heidmann, A
Citation
Y. Hadjar et al., High-sensitivity optical measurement of mechanical Brownian motion, EUROPH LETT, 47(5), 1999, pp. 545-551
Citations number
21
Categorie Soggetti
Physics
Journal title
EUROPHYSICS LETTERS
ISSN journal
02955075 → ACNP
Volume
47
Issue
5
Year of publication
1999
Pages
545 - 551
Database
ISI
SICI code
0295-5075(19990901)47:5<545:HOMOMB>2.0.ZU;2-N
Abstract
We describe an experiment in which a laser beam is sent into a high-finesse optical cavity with a mirror coated on a mechanical resonator. We show tha t the reflected light is very sensitive to small mirror displacements. We h ave observed the Brownian motion of the resonator with a very high sensitiv ity corresponding to a minimum observable displacement of 2 x 10(-19) m/roo t Hz.