Evanescent coupling between refillable ring resonators and laser-inscribed optical waveguides

Authors

Hengky Chandrahalim, Air Force Institute of TechnologyFollow
Stephen C. Rand
Xudong Fan

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2017

Abstract

We investigated theoretically and experimentally the evanescent coupling between photonic waveguides of arbitrary shapes and refillable optical ring resonators on the same chip. The resonator hosts were designed to facilitate whispering-gallery modes and etched by using a single-mask standard lithography process, whereas the waveguides were imprinted in the proximity of the ring resonator by using 3D ultrafast laser-writing technology. Finite element analysis in conjunction with coupled-mode theory revealed a coupling Q-factor (Q_C) of approximately 10⁶. The polymer core ring resonator exhibited a loaded Q-factor (Q_T) as high as 5.4 x 10⁴ and a free spectral range (FSR) of 406 pm at a center wavelength of 775 nm. Long-term stability of the ring resonator was repeatedly tested by examining the spectral location of optical resonances and the constancy of Q-factors and FSRs under ambient laboratory conditions for 1 month. We recorded consistent Q-factors and repeatable FSRs for all measurements. Renewability of the polymer core was demonstrated by removing and redepositing the polymer in the cavity, followed by measurements of Q-factors and FSRs. This work promises to enable reconfigurable and renewable photonic devices for on-chip lasers, 3D integrated optical signal processing, chip-scale molecular sensing, and the investigation of new optical phenomena.

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© 2017 Optical Society of America

DOI

10.1364/AO.56.004750

Source Publication

Applied Optics

Recommended Citation

Hengky Chandrahalim, Stephen C. Rand, and Xudong Fan, "Evanescent coupling between refillable ring resonators and laser-inscribed optical waveguides," Appl. Opt., 56, 2017, pp. 4750-4756.