Angle-Dependent Quality Factor of Mie Resonances in Silicon-Colloid-Based Microcavities

Abstract

Semiconductor photonic microcavities are currently very important elements in the field of photonics. We here report the light-trapping ability of 3D silicon spherical micrometer-sized photonic cavities, which are fabricated via simple chemical methods, as well as the results of quality factor measurements. We show, through both experiments and theoretical modeling, that the observed quality factor of the modes of a spherical silicon microcavity located on a dielectric substrate can be easily tuned by changing only the incident angle of the light. This special angle-dependent property could be used to design high-efficiency angle-resolved photodetectors and micrometer-sized optoelectronic power sources.