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High Performance Polymeric Fabry-Pérot Microcavities for Sensing and Lasing Applications.
Genni Testa1, Vito Coviello1, Gianluca Persichetti1
1Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment (IREA), National Research Council (CNR), Via Diocleziano 328, 80124 Naples, Italy.
Polymers
|September 27, 2025
Summary
We developed fully polymer-based Fabry-Pérot microcavities for sensing and lasing. These cost-effective devices show high performance for refractive index sensing and low-threshold lasing, paving the way for disposable photonic sensors and biolasers.
Area of Science:
- Photonics and Materials Science
- Optoelectronics and Sensor Technology
Background:
- Fabry-Pérot microcavities are crucial for optical sensing and lasing.
- Developing cost-effective, high-performance polymer-based microcavities remains a challenge.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design, fabricate, and optically characterize novel fully polymer-based Fabry-Pérot microcavities.
- To evaluate their performance for both bulk refractive index sensing and laser applications.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of two types of polymer microcavities (Cavity A and B) using polymeric Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) films.
- Optical characterization including quality factor (Q) measurement, refractive index sensing sensitivity, figure of merit (FOM), lasing threshold determination, and spectral analysis.
Main Results:
- Cavity A demonstrated a high Q factor (≈ 2.15 × 10^5) and excellent refractive index sensing capabilities (FOM = 5.89 × 10^4, detection limit = 3.4 × 10^-7 RIU).
- Cavity B exhibited efficient lasing action with a low threshold (1.83 μJ/mm^2) when doped with Rhodamine B dye.
Conclusions:
- Fully polymer-based Fabry-Pérot microcavities offer high performance for sensing and lasing.
- These cost-effective polymeric cavities hold significant potential for disposable photonic sensor platforms and integrated biolaser devices.
