Analysis of Mode Characteristics for Deformed Square Resonators by FDTD Technique

Abstract

The mode frequencies and quality factors (Q-factors) in two-dimensional (2-D) deformed square resonators are analyzed by finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) technique. The results show that the deformed square cavities with circular and cut corners have larger Q-factors than the perfect ones at certain conditions. For a square cavity with side length of 2 /spl mu/m and refractive index of 3.2, the mode Q-factor can increase 13 times as the perfect corners are replaced by a quarter of circle with radius of 0.3 /spl mu/m. Furthermore the blue shift with the increasing deformations is found as a result of the reduction in effective resonator area. In square cavities with periodic roughness at sidewalls which maintains the symmetry of the square, the Q-factors of the whispering gallery (WG)-like modes are still one order of magnitude larger that those of non-WG-like modes. However, the Q-factors of these two types of modes are of the same order in the square cavity with random roughness. We also find that the rectangular and rhombic deformation largely reduce the Q -factors with the increasing offset and cause the splitting of the doubly degenerate modes due to the breaking of certain symmetry properties.