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Updated: Apr 30, 2026

Fabrication and Testing of Photonic Thermometers
Published on: October 24, 2018
Nano-Kelvin thermometry and temperature control: beyond the thermal noise limit
Wenle Weng1, James D Anstie1, Thomas M Stace2
1School of Physics, University of Western Australia, Western Australia 6009, Australia and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing and School of Chemistry and Physics, University of Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia.
Abstract:
We demonstrate thermometry with a resolution of 80 nK/Hz using an isotropic crystalline whispering-gallery mode resonator based on a dichroic dual-mode technique. We simultaneously excite two modes that have a mode frequency ratio that is very close to two (±0.3 ppm). The wavelength and temperature dependence of the refractive index means that the frequency difference between these modes is an ultrasensitive proxy of the resonator temperature. This approach to temperature sensing automatically suppresses sensitivity to thermal expansion and vibrationally induced changes of the resonator. We also demonstrate active suppression of temperature fluctuations in the resonator by controlling the intensity of the driving laser. The residual temperature fluctuations are shown to be below the limits set by fundamental thermodynamic fluctuations of the resonator material.
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