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Microwave Photonics Systems Based on Whispering-gallery-mode Resonators
Published on: August 5, 2013
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Nonlinear Photon Generations from Subwavelength Whispering-Gallery-Mode Resonator
Bo Chen1, Sizuo Wu1, Yuhao Ren1
1State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics, School of Electronics and Information Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
Nano Letters
|June 7, 2024
Summary
Researchers developed a novel self-suspended microresonator that significantly boosts light-matter interactions. This breakthrough enhances the quality factor and reduces mode volume, enabling efficient nonlinear photon generation for integrated photonics.
Area of Science:
- Photonics and Optical Engineering
- Materials Science
- Quantum Information Science
Background:
- Whispering gallery mode (WGM) microresonators offer strong light localization and long photon lifetimes, crucial for enhanced light-matter interactions and on-chip optical functionalities.
- High-quality (Q) factor and small mode volume (V) are key to efficient nonlinear photon generation, but bending losses limit Q factor improvements in subwavelength WGM microresonators.
Purpose of the Study:
- To overcome limitations in subwavelength WGM microresonators by enhancing the Q factor and reducing mode volume.
- To demonstrate a novel integrated self-suspended WGM microresonator design for improved light-matter interactions.
- To experimentally validate the enhanced performance for nonlinear photon generation.
Main Methods:
- Designed and fabricated an integrated self-suspended WGM microresonator using a silicon-on-insulator platform, incorporating external rings and bridges with a microdisk.
- Utilized numerical simulations to predict the mode volume of the designed microresonator.
- Experimentally investigated the performance enhancement through third-harmonic generation (THG) and second-harmonic generation (SHG) measurements.
Main Results:
- Achieved approximately a one-hundred-fold enhancement in the Q factor compared to conventional designs.
- Obtained an ultrasmall mode volume of 2.67(/λnSi)³, as predicted by simulations.
- Demonstrated dramatically enhanced THG and SHG efficiencies, confirming the improved performance of the subwavelength WGM resonator.
Conclusions:
- The integrated self-suspended WGM microresonator design effectively enhances light-matter interactions in small-footprint devices.
- This advancement is expected to significantly boost the development of efficient integrated nonlinear and quantum photonics.
- The demonstrated resonator provides a promising platform for novel on-chip optical functionalities.
