Optical bistability in a high-Q racetrack resonator based on small SU-8 ridge waveguides

A racetrack resonator with a high Q value (~34,000) is demonstrated experimentally based on small SU-8 optical ridge waveguides, which were fabricated with an improved etchless process. Optical bistability is observed in the present racetrack resonator even with a low input optical power (5.6-7.3 mW), which is attributed to the significant thermal nonlinear optical effect due to the high Q value and the large negative thermo-optical coefficient of SU-8. Theoretical modeling for the optical bistability is also given, and it agrees well with the experimental result.