Search for: All records

The ability to observe astronomical events through the detection of gravitational waves relies on the quality of multilayer coatings used on the optical mirrors of interferometers. Amorphous Ta2O5 (including TiO2:Ta2O5) currently limits detector sensitivity due to high mechanical loss. In this paper, mechanical loss measured at both cryogenic and room temperatures of amorphous Ta2O5 films grown by magnetron sputtering and annealed in air at 500 ◦C is shown to decrease for elevated growth temperature. Films grown at 310 ◦C and annealed yield a mechanical loss of 3.1×10−4 at room temperature, the lowest value reported for pure amorphous Ta2O5 grown by magnetron sputtering to date, and comparable to the lowest values obtained for films grown by ion beam sputtering. Additionally, the refractive index n increases 6% for elevated growth temperature, which could lead to improved sensitivity of gravitational-wave detectors by allowing a thickness reduction in the mirrors’ coatings. Structural characterization suggests that the observed mechanical loss reduction in amorphous Ta2O5 films with increasing growth temperature correlates with a reduction in the coordination number between oxygen and tantalum atoms, consistent with TaOx polyhedra with increased corner-sharing and reduced edge- and facesharing structures. 

Abstract—This paper presents a control co-design method for designing the mechanical power takeoff (PTO) system of a dual- flap oscillating surge wave energy converter. Unlike most existing work’s simplified representation of harvested power, this paper derives a more realistic electrical power representation based on a concise PTO modelling. This electrical power is used as the objective for PTO design optimization with energy maxi- mization control also taken into consideration to enable a more comprehensive design evaluation. A simple PI control structure speeds up the simultaneous co-optimization of control and PTO parameters, and an equivalent circuit model of the WEC not only streamlines power representation but also facilitates more insightful evaluation of the optimization results. The optimized PTO shows a large improvement in terms of power potential and actual power performance. It’s found the generator’s