Measurement of the intrinsic mechanical loss of low-loss samples using a nodal support

We measured the mechanical loss of cylindrical samples made of fused silica. The loss due to the support was excluded by using a nodal support technique. We evaluated separately the intrinsic loss of the material and the loss due to the surface roughness by systematically analyzing the measured losses. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.