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Mechanical loss of calcium fluoride at cryogenic temperatures
Author(s) -
Schwarz Christian,
Heinert Daniel,
Seidel Paul,
Tünnermann Andreas,
Hammond Giles D.,
Nawrodt Ronny
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
physica status solidi (a)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.532
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1862-6319
pISSN - 1862-6300
DOI - 10.1002/pssa.201127331
Subject(s) - materials science , relaxation (psychology) , fluoride , calcium , instrumentation (computer programming) , composite material , mechanical energy , range (aeronautics) , fluorine , thermodynamics , chemistry , metallurgy , inorganic chemistry , physics , psychology , social psychology , power (physics) , computer science , operating system
Low mechanical loss materials are in great demand for micro‐mechanical applications as well as high precision instrumentation. We describe low mechanical loss measurements of a calcium fluoride (CaF 2 ) bulk sample. A new mechanical relaxation process was observed for frequencies in the range from 31 to 64 kHz and temperatures of 10 to 50 K. The activation energy of this process was found to be 10 meV. This relaxation process increases the mechanical loss significantly and thus sets limits to the application of this material at these temperatures.