This Project Grant award for $160,000 from the National Science Foundation's Mathematical and Physical Sciences (CFDA 47.049) program supports collaborative research between Stanford University and the University of Florida. The goal is to develop improved mirror coatings that reduce thermal noise and increase the sensitivity of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors. Key efforts include: 1) advancing the understanding of amorphous oxide materials to enable coatings with lower Brownian thermal noise, 2) modeling and characterizing coating materials, and 3) iteratively working with deposition groups to refine coating designs. This research builds on prior work identifying titanium-doped germanium dioxide as a promising low-noise coating material. The award period runs from May 2024 through May 2027, and the research team will continue to train the next generation of STEM researchers through this multidisciplinary project.
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