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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2006

Few-Mode Whispering-Gallery-Mode Resonators

Whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) optical resonators of a type now under development are designed to support few well-defined waveguide modes. In the simplest case, a resonator of this type would support one equatorial family of WGMs; in a more complex case, such a resonator would be made to support two, three, or some other specified finite number of modes. Such a resonator can be made of almost any transparent material commonly used in optics. The nature of the supported modes does not depend on which material is used, and the geometrical dispersion of this resonator is much smaller than that of a typical prior WGM resonator. Moreover, in principle, many such resonators could be fabricated as integral parts of a single chip. Basically, a resonator of this type consists of a rod, made of a suitable transparent material, from which protrudes a thin circumferential belt of the same material. The belt is integral with the rest of the rod (see figure) and acts as a circumferential waveguide. If the depth (d) and width (w) of the belt are made appropriately small, then the belt acts as though it were the core of a single-mode optical fiber: the belt and its adjacent supporting rod material support a single, circumferentially propagating mode or family of modes. It has been shown theoretically that the fiber-optic-like behavior of the belton- rod resonator structure can be summarized, in part, by the difference, Dn, between (1) an effective index of refraction of an imaginary fiber core and (2) the index of refraction (n) of the transparent rod/belt material. It has also been shown theoretically that for a given required value of Dn, the required depth of the belt can be estimated as d R Dn, where R is the radius of the rod. It must be emphasized that this estimated depth is independent of n and, hence, is independent of the choice of rod material. As in the cases of prior WGM resonators, input/output optical coupling involves utilization of evanescent fields. In the present case, there are two evanescent fields: one at the belt/air interface and one in the boundary region between the belt and the rest of the rod.

Savchenkov, Anatoliy↗
NASA NTRS2005

Graded-index whispering gallery mode resonators

Whispering gallery mode optical resonators which have spatially-graded refractive indices. In one implementation, the refractive index spatially increases with a distance from an exterior surface of such a resonator towards an interior of the resonator to produce substantially equal spectral separations for different whispering gallery modes. An optical coupler may be used with such a resonator to provide proper optical coupling.

Savchenkov, Anatoliy↗
NASA NTRS2005

Nonlinear optical whispering gallery mode resonators

Whispering gallery mode (WGM) optical resonators comprising nonlinear optical materials, where the nonlinear optical material of a WGM resonator includes a plurality of sectors within the optical resonator and nonlinear coefficients of two adjacent sectors are oppositely poled.

Ilchenko, Vladimir↗
NASA NTRS2006

White-Light Whispering-Gallery-Mode Optical Resonators

Whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) optical resonators can be designed to exhibit continuous spectra over wide wavelength bands (in effect, white-light spectra), with ultrahigh values of the resonance quality factor (Q) that are nearly independent of frequency. White-light WGM resonators have potential as superior alternatives to (1) larger, conventional optical resonators in ring-down spectroscopy, and (2) optical-resonator/electro-optical-modulator structures used in coupling of microwave and optical signals in atomic clocks. In these and other potential applications, the use of white-light WGM resonators makes it possible to relax the requirement of high-frequency stability of lasers, thereby enabling the use of cheaper lasers. In designing a white-light WGM resonator, one exploits the fact that the density of the mode spectrum increases predictably with the thickness of the resonator disk. By making the resonator disk sufficiently thick, one can make the frequency differences between adjacent modes significantly less than the spectral width of a single mode, so that the spectral peaks of adjacent modes overlap, making the resonator spectrum essentially continuous. Moreover, inasmuch as the Q values of the various modes are determined primarily by surface Rayleigh scattering that does not depend on mode numbers, all the modes have nearly equal Q. By use of a proper coupling technique, one can ensure excitation of a majority of the modes. For an experimental demonstration of a white-light WGM resonator, a resonator disk 0.5-mm thick and 5 mm in diameter was made from CaF2. The shape of the resonator and the fiberoptic coupling arrangement were as shown in Figure 1. The resonator was excited with laser light having a wavelength of 1,320 nm and a spectral width of 4 kHz. The coupling efficiency exceeded 80 percent at any frequency to which the laser could be set in its tuning range, which was >100-GHz wide. The resonator response was characterized by means of ring-down tests in which the excitation was interrupted by a shutter having a rise and a fall time of 5 ns. The ring-down time of photodiodes and associated circuitry used to measure the interrupted excitation and the resonator output was <1 ns. Figure 2 shows the shapes of representative input and output light pulses. The average ring-down time was found to be 120 ns, corresponding to Q=2x10(exp 8). The variations of Q with the laser carrier frequency were found to be <5 percent. Hence, the resonator was shown to have the desired white light properties.

Matsko, Andrey↗
NASA NTRS2009

Phased-array optical whispering gallery mode modulation and method

A whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator device and method capable of filtering sidebands of optical modulators are provided. The method includes providing an optical resonator adapted to support whispering gallery modes and forming a first field and a second field from a first location and a second location, respectively, at the circumference of the optical resonator and being separated by an arc angle, .alpha.. The method includes adjusting relative phase between the first field and the second field in accordance to a differential phase, .beta., and combining the first and the second fields into an output. Particular selection of the arc angle, .alpha., and the differential phase, .beta., can determine the function of the output.

Strekalov, Dmitry V.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Exploring the Frequency Stability Limits of Whispering Gallery Mode Resonators for Metrological Applications

Whispering gallery mode resonators are attracting increasing interest as promising frequency reference cavities. Unlike commonly used Fabry-Perot cavities, however, they are filled with a bulk medium whose properties have a significant impact on the stability of its resonance frequencies. In this context that has to be reduced to a minimum. On the other hand, a small monolithic resonator provides opportunity for better stability against vibration and acceleration. this feature is essential when the cavity operates in a non-laboratory environment. In this paper, we report a case study for a crystalline resonator, and discuss the a pathway towards the inhibition of vibration-and acceleration-induced frequency fluctuations.

meterology↗
NASA NTRS2012

Detecting light in whispering-gallery-mode resonators

An optical device including a whispering gallery mode (WGM) optical resonator configured to support one or more whispering gallery modes; and a photodetector optically coupled to an exterior surface of the optical resonator to receive evanescent light from the optical resonator to detect light inside the optical resonator.

Savchenkov, Anatoliy↗
NASA NTRS2007

Rarefying Spectra of Whispering-Gallery-Mode Resonators

A method of cleaning the mode spectra of whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) optical resonators has been devised to make such resonators more suitable for use as narrow-band optical filters. The method applies, more specifically, to millimeter- sized whispering-gallery-mode optical resonators that are made of crystalline electro-optical materials and have ultrahigh values of the resonance quality factor (Q). The mode spectrum of such a resonator is typically dense, consisting of closely spaced families of modes; as such, the spectrum is not well suited for narrow-band filtering, in which there is a need for strong rejection of side modes. Cleaning as used here signifies rarefying the spectrum so that what remains consists mostly of a single desired family of modes or, at worst, a few mode families that are more widely spaced in frequency than are the mode families in the original, non-rarefied spectrum. The spectrum-cleaning method exploits the fact that various WGM mode families occupy various positions near the equator at the rim of a resonator disk. In this method, a damper in the form of a prism or other polished piece of material having an index of refraction greater than that of the resonator material is placed in contact with the rim of the resonator at such a position that the Qs of most or all of the undesired mode families are greatly reduced while the Q of the desired mode family is reduced by only a tolerably small amount. In an alternative method that has been considered, the mode spectrum would be cleaned through special design of the shape of the rim, but fabrication of the rim in a special shape is a complicated task. The advantage of the present method, relative to the alternative method, is that special shaping of the rim is not necessary and the damping prism can be emplaced after the resonator has been fabricated.

Savchenkov, Anatoliy↗
NASA NTRS2011

Method of fabricating a whispering gallery mode resonator

A method of fabricating a whispering gallery mode resonator (WGMR) is provided. The WGMR can be fabricated from a particular material, annealed, and then polished. The WGMR can be repeatedly annealed and then polished. The repeated polishing of the WGMR can be carried out using an abrasive slurry. The abrasive slurry can have a predetermined, constant grain size. Each subsequent polishing of the WGMR can use an abrasive slurry having a grain size that is smaller than the grain size of the abrasive slurry of the previous polishing iteration.

Savchenkov, Anatoliy A.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Whispering gallery mode resonators based on radiation-sensitive materials

Whispering gallery mode (WGM) optical resonators formed of radiation-sensitive materials to allow for permanent tuning of their resonance frequencies in a controlled manner. Two WGM resonators may be cascaded to form a composite filter to produce a second order filter function where at least one WGM resonator is formed a radiation-sensitive material to allow for proper control in the overlap of the two filter functions.

Savchenkov, Anatoliy↗
NASA NTRS2009

White-Light Whispering Gallery Mode Optical Resonator System and Method

An optical resonator system and method that includes a whispering-gallery mode (WGM) optical resonator that is capable of resonating across a broad, continuous swath of frequencies is provided. The optical resonator of the system is shaped to support at least one whispering gallery mode and includes a top surface, a bottom surface, a side wall, and a first curved transition region extending between the side wall and the top surface. The system further includes a coupler having a coupling surface which is arranged to face the transition region of the optical resonator and in the vicinity thereof such that an evanescent field emitted from the coupler is capable of being coupled into the optical resonator through the first curved transition region

Matsko, Andrey B.↗