Microtorus: a high-finesse microcavity with whispering-gallery modes

We demonstrate a 165-mu;m oblate spheroidal microcavity with a free spectral range of 383.7 GHz (3.06 nm), a resonance bandwidth of 23 MHz (quality factor Q approximately 10(7)) at 1550 nm, and finesse F>/=10(4) . The highly oblate spheroidal dielectric microcavity combines a very high Q factor, typical of microspheres, with a vastly reduced number of excited whispering-gallery modes (by 2 orders of magnitude). The very large free spectral range in this novel microcavity-a few hundred gigahertz instead of a few gigahertz as in typical microspheres-is desirable for applications in spectral analysis, narrow-linewidth optical and rf oscillators, and cavity QED.     

Lasing modes in a spiral-shaped dielectric microcavity

The resonance patterns and lasing modes in a spiral-shaped dielectric microcavity are investigated through passive and active medium calculations. We find that the high-Q resonance modes are whispering-gallery-like modes, and these resonance modes can be easily excited as lasing modes. We also find that the quasi-scarred resonance mode, which shows strong directional emission beams from the cavity boundary, can be excited with selectively applied external pumping. Through a spectral analysis of the time evolution of the light field, the competition between these lasing modes is discussed.     

Mathematical analysis of the lasing eigenvalue problem for the optical modes in a layered dielectric cavity with a quantum well and distributed Bragg reflectors

Optical modes and associated linear threshold values of material gain bringing them to lasing are investigated for a VCSEL-type cavity with a quantum well, sandwiched between two distributed Bragg reflectors. They are found as solutions to a specific novel eigenvalue problem with the “active” imaginary part of the quantum well refractive index. For the calculation of the Bragg mirror reflection coefficients, well-established method of the transfer matrices is used. The presented results accurately quantify intuitively predictable lowering of the modal thresholds for the modes whose lasing frequencies lay inside the reflectors rejection bands. Besides, they demonstrate that this approach automatically incorporates the account of overlapping between the active region and the modal E-field patterns and its effect on the thresholds.     

Self-localization of whispering-gallery modes in a spherical microcavity filled with a cold electron plasma

We have studied the mechanisms and conditions for self-localization of laser radiation in a cold collisionless electron plasma for a spherical microcavity in the quasistatic approximation, taking into account the appearance of striction nonlinearity and also relativistic effects connected with forced oscillatory motion of the electrons. We have shown that when whispering-gallery modes interact nonlinearly with the electron plasma, a spherical plasmon is excited which is localized within the finite volume of the microsphere. We have established that realization of self-localized spherical structures, in the form of an electromagnetic field and spherical plasmons within a microcavity filled with a cold electron plasma, is primarily due to appearance of relativistic nonlinearity of the medium. __________ Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 73, No. 1, pp. 59–64, January–February, 2006.     

Single-mode lasing in a coupled twin circular-side-octagon microcavity

We demonstrate the curvature of coupled twin circular-side-octagon microcavity (TCOM) lasers as the degree of freedom to realize manipulation of mode quality ($Q$) factor and lasing characteristics. Numerical simulation results indicate that mode $Q$ factors varying from 10$^{4 }$ to 10$^{8}$, wavelength intervals of different transverse modes, and mode numbers for four-bounce modes can be manipulated for five different deformations. Global mode distributes throughout coupled microcavity with mode $Q$ factor around the order of 10$^{4 }$ or 10$^{5}$. Four-bounce modes lase with injection currents applied single microcavity. By pumping both microcavities simultaneously, single-mode lasing for global modes with side mode suppression ratios (SMSRs) of 30, 32, 32, 31, and 36 dB is achieved at the deformation of 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 with four-bounce modes suppressed, respectively. Moreover, the linewidths less than 11 MHz for the single mode are obtained with the deformation of 2. The results show that the lasing modes can be efficiently manipulated considering variable curvature for TCOM lasers, which can promote practical applications of microcavity lasers.     

Nonlinear whispering-gallery modes in a microellipse cavity

We study theoretically the effect of deformed microelliptical cavities on lasing characteristics. We show that the transition of stationary lasing states from unidirectional rotational waves to a mixture of clockwise and anticlockwise rotational waves occurs when the shape of a disk is deformed to that of an ellipse.     

Threshold gain behavior of lasing modes in two-dimensional active random media

The pumping rate dependence of the peak intensity of the individual lasing mode in two-dimensional (2D) active random media is investigated. The results show that these modes have a typical threshold gain behavior and different threshold pumping rates. There exists a certain correspondence between the mode's threshold pumping rate and its lifetime, and the longer the lifetime is, the lower the threshold is.     

High-Q exterior whispering-gallery modes in a metal-coated microresonator

We propose a kind of plasmonic whispering-gallery mode highly localized on the exterior surface of a metal-coated microresonator. This exterior (EX) surface mode possesses high quality factors at room temperature, and can be efficiently excited by a tapered fiber. The EX mode can couple to an interior (IN) mode and this coupling produces a strong anticrossing behavior, which not only allows conversion of IN to EX modes, but also forms a long-lived antisymmetric mode. As a potential application, the EX mode could be used for a biosensor with a sensitivity high of up to 500 nm per refraction index unit, a large figure of merit, and a wide detection range.     

Experimental investigation of a gyrotron with whispering-gallery modes

Radiophysics and Quantum Electronics -     

Controlled coupling of counterpropagating whispering-gallery modes by a single Rayleigh scatterer: a classical problem in a quantum optical light

We present experiments where a single subwavelength scatterer is used to examine and control the backscattering induced coupling between counterpropagating high-Q modes of a microsphere resonator. Our measurements reveal the standing wave character of the resulting symmetric and antisymmetric eigenmodes, their unbalanced intensity distributions, and the coherent nature of their coupling. We discuss our findings and the underlying classical physics in the framework common to quantum optics and provide a particularly intuitive explanation of the central processes.     

Visualizing the whispering gallery modes in a cylindrical optical microcavity

Whispering gallery modes in cylindrical integrated optics microcavities have, for what is to our knowledge the first time, been mapped with a photon scanning tunneling microscope. Optical images were obtained with a spatial resolution of 50 nm. By combination of information on the spatial optical distributions with wavelength-dependent measurements, an unexpectedly rich variety of intracavity phenomena, such as polarization conversion and interference of copropagating and counterpropagating modes, could be directly observed. A quantitative comparison of the experimental data with computer simulations results in a comprehensive understanding of the various whispering gallery modes inside the microcavity.     

二维无序介质中横磁模的谱线宽度随抽运强度的变化特性

基于随机激光时域理论,数值研究了二维随机激光器中横磁模式的输出光谱线宽度,获得了谱线宽度与抽运强度的关系曲线,由此曲线可以计算横磁模式的很多特征参数.从谱线宽度的角度来看,横磁模式的输出特性结果与已有的横电模式结果相比,横磁模式具有较好的输出特性. 关键词： 随机激光器 偏振 谱线宽度 无序介质中的光学效应     

Pigtailing the high-Q microsphere cavity: a simple fiber coupler for optical whispering-gallery modes

We demonstrate a simple method for efficient coupling of standard single-mode optical fibers to a high- Q optical microsphere cavity. Phase-matched excitation of whispering-gallery modes is provided by an angle-polished fiber tip in which the core-guided wave undergoes total internal reflection. In the experimental setup, which included a microsphere with both an input and an output coupler, the total fiber-to-fiber transmission at resonance reached 23% (total insertion loss, 6.3 dB), with loaded quality factor Q>/=3x10(7) and unloaded Q approximately 1.2x10(8) at 1550 nm. A simple pigtailing method for microspheres permits their wider use in fiber optics and photonics devices.     

Direct measurement of the quality factor in a two-dimensional photonic-crystal microcavity

A new microcavity design is proposed and structures are realized with a two-dimensional photonic-crystal slab. The cavity consists of seven defect holes that encompass a hexagon and is designed to reduce vertical light leakage. From a direct transmission measurement, a Q value of 816+/-30 is achieved at lambda =1.55 mum . This high- Q cavity will permit the realistic realization of spontaneous-emission modification and on-off optical switches.     

Shift of whispering-gallery modes in microspheres by protein adsorption

Biosensors based on the shift of whispering-gallery modes in microspheres accompanying protein adsorption are described by use of a perturbation theory. For random spatial adsorption, theory predicts that the shift should be inversely proportional to microsphere radius R and proportional to protein surface density and excess polarizability. Measurements are found to be consistent with the theory, and the correspondence enables the average surface area occupied by a single protein to be estimated. These results are consistent with crystallographic data for bovine serum albumin. The theoretical shift for adsorption of a single protein is found to be extremely sensitive to the target region, with adsorption in the most sensitive region varying as 1/R(5/2). Specific parameters for single protein or virus particle detection are predicted.     

Coupling of whispering-gallery modes in size-mismatched microdisk photonic molecules

Mechanisms of whispering-gallery (WG)-mode coupling in microdisk photonic molecules (PMs) with slight and significant size mismatches are numerically investigated. The results reveal two different scenarios of modes interaction depending on the degree of this mismatch and offer new insight into how PM parameters can be tuned to control and modify WG-mode wavelengths and Q factors. From a practical point of view, these findings offer a way to fabricate PM microlaser structures that exhibit low thresholds and directional emission and at the same time are more tolerant to fabrication errors than previously explored coupled-cavity structures composed of identical microresonators.     

On the antiresonances of a microcavity with quarter-wave dielectric mirrors

The amplitude reflectivity spectrum and the associated finesse of a microcavity with quarter-wave dielectric mirrors have been theoretically analysed. Triangular-shaped antiresonances were obtained when the radius of the incident beam was not much larger than a wavelength. This was due to the dispersion caused by high spatial frequency components of the incident beam. The dispersion resulted in an increase of the width of the high-transmission region, and therefore greatly degraded the finesse of the cavity.     

圆腔回音壁模的自洽场描述

在引进圆腔特征场及其反射系数的概念基础上,讨论了圆腔回音壁模（WGM）的自洽场描述.基于自洽场要求,得到了同直接求解描述WGM问题的Helmholtz方程一样的本征值方程.基于特征场描述的波-光线对应性,讨论了圆腔WGM自洽形成的几何射线描述.根据特征光线束自洽的直观图像推导了WGM谐振波数与品质因子Q值,并与直接求解本征值方程所获得的结果符合很好. 关键词： 自洽场描述 波-光线对应性 回音壁模