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Microwave Photonics Systems Based on Whispering-gallery-mode Resonators
Published on: August 5, 2013
Highly directional output from long-lived resonances in optical microcavity
1National Key Laboratory of Tunable Laser Technology, Institute of Opto-Electronics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150080, China. qinghai.song@gmail.com
Optics Letters
|January 26, 2011
Summary
We developed a simple method using nanoparticles in microcavities to achieve highly directional light emission. This technique is robust and offers precise control over light output, enhancing optical device performance.
Area of Science:
- Optics and Photonics
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Microcavities support long-lived resonances, but achieving directional emission is challenging.
- Nanoparticles can interact with light fields, offering potential for optical manipulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a straightforward and resilient mechanism for generating highly directional emission from microcavities.
- To investigate the use of nanoparticles to control light emission directionality.
Main Methods:
- Placing nanoparticles (NPs) within the evanescent wave region of microcavities.
- Utilizing numerical simulations to analyze the optical properties and robustness of the mechanism.
Main Results:
- Achieved highly directional outputs with divergence angles between 1.9° and 10° in single or double directions.
- Demonstrated that the nanoparticle perturbation preserves the high-quality (Q) factors of the microcavities.
- Numerical simulations confirmed robustness against variations in nanoparticle size and microcavity properties.
Conclusions:
- The proposed mechanism offers a simple and effective way to achieve directional emission from microcavities.
- This method is robust and tunable, showing potential for applications in integrated optics and optoelectronics.
