Ultrastable lasers: investigations of crystalline mirrors and closed cycle cooling at 124 K

We have investigated crystalline AlGaAs/GaAs optical coatings with three ultra-stable cavities operating at 4 K, 16 K, 124 K and 297 K. The response of the resonance frequencies of cavities to variations in optical power indicates effects beyond the photo-thermo-optic effect observed in dielectric coatings. These effects are strongly dependent on the intensity of the intracavity light at 1.5~ m. When the rear side of the mirrors is illuminated with external light, we observe a prominent photo-modified birefringence for photon energies above the GaAs bandgap, which points to a possible mechanism relating our observations to the semiconductor properties of the coatings. Separately, we also present a low maintenance evolution of our 124 K silicon cavity system where the liquid nitrogen based cooling system is replaced with closed cycle cooling from a pulse-tube cryo-cooler.