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Updated: Jun 21, 2026
10:26
Fabrication and Characterization of Superconducting Resonators
Published on: May 21, 2016
Thermal instability of a compound resonator
Ivan S Grudinin1, Kerry J Vahala
1California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. Grudinin@caltech.edu
Optics Express
|August 6, 2009
Summary
We studied thermal and Kerr nonlinearity in coupled microtoroid resonators. Thermal effects destabilize normal modes, causing instability in the red-detuned mode as pump power increases.
Area of Science:
- Optics and Photonics
- Nonlinear Optics
- Microresonator Systems
Background:
- Optical microcavities enable light-matter interactions.
- Nonlinear optical effects are crucial for photonic devices.
- Coupled resonators exhibit complex dynamic behaviors.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate thermal and Kerr nonlinearity in coupled silica microtoroid resonators.
- Develop a theoretical model for coupled nonlinear oscillators.
- Analyze the stability of system solutions under increasing pump power.
Main Methods:
- Experimental measurements on optically-coupled silica microtoroid resonators.
- Theoretical modeling using coupled oscillator equations.
- Stability analysis of static solutions.
Main Results:
- A model for nonlinear resonance curves in coupled oscillators was developed.
- Thermal nonlinearity drives resonator eigenfrequencies apart.
- Normal modes become unstable with increasing pump power.
- The red-detuned normal mode exhibits instability at specific pump powers.
Conclusions:
- Thermal nonlinearity plays a critical role in the instability of coupled microresonator systems.
- Understanding mode instability is essential for designing stable nonlinear photonic devices.
- The developed model provides insights into the dynamics of coupled nonlinear resonators.
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