Cryogenic mount for mirror and piezoelectric actuator for an optical cavity

• Published in: Review of scientific instruments 2017-06, Vol.88 (6), p.063104-063104
• Main Authors: Oliveira, A. N., Moreira, L. S., Sacramento, R. L., Kosulic, L., Brasil, V. B., Wolff, W., Cesar, C. L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antihydrogen; Flexing; Holes; Microscopes; Piezoelectric actuators; Piezoelectricity; Scientific apparatus & instruments; Spectroscopy; Spectrum analysis; Test systems; Thermal contraction
• ISSN: 0034-6748; 1089-7623
• DOI: 10.1063/1.4989404

We present the development of a mount that accommodates a mirror and a piezoelectric actuator with emphasis on physical needs for low temperature operation. The design uses a monolithic construction with flexure features that allow it to steadily hold the mirror and the piezoelectric actuator without glue and accommodate differential thermal contraction. The mount is small and lightweight, adding little heat capacity and inertia. It provides a pre-loading of the piezoelectric actuator as well as a good thermal connection to the mirror and a thermal short across the piezoelectric actuator. The performance of the assemblies has been tested by thermally cycling from room temperature down to 3 K more than a dozen times and over one hundred times to 77 K, without showing any derating. Such mounts are proposed for the cryogenic optical enhancement cavities of the ALPHA experiment at CERN for laser spectroscopy of antihydrogen and for hydrogen spectroscopy in our laboratory at UFRJ.