Structures and fabrication of whispering-gallery-mode resonators

• US 8,102,597 B1
• Filed: 05/15/2009
• Issued: 01/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oewaves Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Oewaves Incorporated
• Inventors: Maleki, Lute, Matsko, Andrey B., Savchenkov, Anatoliy, Ilchenko, Vladimir, Seidel, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Hellner, Mark
• Assistant Examiner(s): Diacou, Ari M
• Application Number:
  US12/467,248
• Time in Patent Office: 984 Days
• Field of Search: 359/333, 359/346, 372/92, 372/108
• US Class Current: 359/346
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/29341 Loop resonators operating in a whispering gallery mode evanescently coupled to a light guide, e.g. sphere or disk or cylinder evanescent coupling for sensing fluorescence G01N21/648

Abstract

Devices having whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) resonators configured to meet requirements of various applications and facilitate fabrication of such devices.

Claims

1. An optical whispering gallery mode resonator device, comprising:

a substrate having a top surface and a bottom surface parallel to the top surface; and

an optical material located on the top surface of the substrate and engaged to the substrate, wherein the optical material is different from a material of the substrate and the substrate and the optical material are shaped to collectively form a conical shape in which side surfaces of the substrate and the optical material are flat surfaces and form an angle with respect to the top and bottom surfaces of the substrate, wherein the conical shaped optical material is structured as an optical resonator supporting one or more optical whispering gallery modes circulating around a symmetric axis of the conical shape.

2. The device as in claim 1, wherein the substrate is made of a transparent material having a refractive index lower than a refractive index of the optical material.

3. The device as in claim 1, wherein the substrate is made of a metal.

4. The device as in claim 1, wherein the optical material for the optical resonator is a crystal.

5. The device as in claim 4, wherein the optical material for the optical resonator is a lithium tantalite crystal.

6. The device as in claim 4, wherein the optical material for the optical resonator is a MgF₂ crystal.

7. The device as in claim 1, comprising:

an optical coupler located near the side surface of the optical resonator to evanescently couple light into or out of the optical resonator.

8. The device as in claim 7, wherein the optical coupler is a prism coupler.

18. The device as in claim 1, comprising a layer positioned between the substrate and the optical material to bond the optical material to the substrate.

19. The device as in claim 1, comprising the layer between the substrate and the optical material is an epoxy layer.

9. A method for fabricating an optical whispering gallery mode resonator device, comprising:

providing a substrate having a top surface and a bottom surface parallel to the top surface;

engaging an optical material on the top surface of the substrate, wherein the optical material is different from a material of the substrate; and

shaping the engaged substrate and the optical material together to form a conical shape in the engaged substrate and the optical material to make the conical shaped optical material an optical resonator supporting one or more optical whispering gallery modes circulating around a symmetric axis of the conical shape.

10. The method as in claim 9, wherein the shaping including performing a turning operation on the engaged substrate and the optical material together.

11. The method as in claim 9, wherein the shaping including polishing sides surfaces of the engaged substrate and the optical material together to form flat side surfaces on sides of the engaged substrate and the optical material that are slated at a common angle with respect to the top and bottom surfaces of the substrate.

12. The method as in claim 9, comprising using a glass as the substrate.

13. The method as in claim 9, comprising using a transparent material as the substrate.

14. The method as in claim 9, comprising using a metal as the substrate.

15. The method as in claim 9, wherein the substrate has a refractive index less than a refractive index of the optical material.

16. The method as in claim 9, comprising using an epoxy between the substrate and the optical material to engage the optical material and the substrate together.

17. The method as in claim 9, comprising using a crystal as the optical material.