Tuning the thermal expansion properties of optical reference cavities with fused silica mirrors

We investigate the thermal expansion of low thermal noise Fabry-Perot cavities made of low thermal expansion (LTE) glass spacers and fused silica (FS) mirrors. The different thermal expansion of mirror and spacer deforms the mirror. This deformation strongly contributes to the cavity's effective coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), decreasing the zero crossing temperature by about 20 K compared to an all-LTE glass cavity. Finite element simulations and CTE measurements show that LTE rings optically contacted to the back surface of the FS mirrors allow to tune the zero crossing temperature over a range of 30 K. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America