Spherical whispering-gallery-mode microresonators

Alessandro Chiasera (1) , Yannick Dumeige (2) , Patrice Féron (2) , Maurizio Ferrari (1) , Yoann Jestin (1) , Gualtiero Nunzi-Conti (3, 4) , Stefano Pelli (3) , S. Soria (3, 4) , Giancarlo C. Righini (3)

1 CSMFO - Caratterizzazione e Sviluppo di Materiali per la Fotonica e l'Optoelecttronica
2 FOTON - Fonctions Optiques pour les Technologies de l'informatiON
3 IFAC - Istituto di Fisica Applicata "Nello Carrara"
4 Enrico Fermi Center for Study and Research | Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche Enrico Fermi

Whispering-gallery modes (WGM) on a spherical surface were first described by Lord Rayleigh at the beginning of the last century, but only after the invention of laser did they start to have some scientific relevance and only during the last two decades there has been a substantial move towards real devices and practical applications. WGM resonators have peculiar properties, the most notable being the potential of having an ultrahigh quality factor Q, which makes them very appealing both as laser cavities and as extremely sensitive sensors. Among the different types of WGM resonators, the microspherical ones represent a very important category, due to their simplicity, easy fabrication, and very high quality. In this review we provide a description of their fundamental properties and we summarize recent works on their application as filters, sensors and lasers.

Mots clés: Resonators; WGM; microcavity laser; biosensor; glass

Domaines: Optique [physics.optics]

Alessandro Chiasera, Yannick Dumeige, Patrice Féron, Maurizio Ferrari, Yoann Jestin, et al.. Spherical whispering-gallery-mode microresonators. Laser and Photonics Reviews, 2010, 4 (3), pp.457-482. ⟨10.1002/lpor.200910016⟩. ⟨hal-00489454⟩