Abstract
Ultrahigh-Q optical resonators are being studied across a wide range of fields, including quantum information, nonlinear optics, cavity optomechanics and telecommunications1,2,3,4,5,6,7. Here, we demonstrate a new resonator with a record Q-factor of 875 million for on-chip devices. The fabrication of our device avoids the requirement for a specialized processing step, which in microtoroid resonators8 has made it difficult to control their size and achieve millimetre- and centimetre-scale diameters. Attaining these sizes is important in applications such as microcombs and potentially also in rotation sensing. As an application of size control, stimulated Brillouin lasers incorporating our device are demonstrated. The resonators not only set a new benchmark for the Q-factor on a chip, but also provide, for the first time, full compatibility of this important device class with conventional semiconductor processing. This feature will greatly expand the range of possible ‘system on a chip’ functions enabled by ultrahigh-Q devices. Using only conventional semiconductor processing on a silicon wafer, researchers successfully fabricate an on-chip resonator with a record Q-factor of 875 million — around 20 times higher than previous results. They also demonstrate stimulated Brillouin lasers as an example application to emphasize the size control feature of the fabrication method and the ultrahigh-Q available from these resonators.
Highlights
Ultra-high-Q optical resonators are being studied across a wide range of research subjects including quantum information, nonlinear optics, cavity optomechanics, and telecommunications[1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
We demonstrate a new, resonator on-a-chip with a record Q factor of 875 million, surpassing even microtoroids[8]. These devices avoid a highly specialized processing step that has made it difficult to integrate microtoroids with other photonic devices and to precisely control their size. These devices set a new benchmark for Q factor on a chip, and provide, for the first time, full compatibility of this important device class with conventional semiconductor processing
The best Q performance occurs for diameters greater than 500 microns, a size range that is difficult to access for microtoroids on account of the limitations of the reflow process
Summary
Ultra-high-Q optical resonators are being studied across a wide range of research subjects including quantum information, nonlinear optics, cavity optomechanics, and telecommunications[1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. Reflow smoothing makes it very challenging to fabricate larger diameter UHQ resonators and likewise to leverage the full range of integration tools and devices available on silicon. The devices reported here attain ultra-high-Q performance using only conventional semiconductor processing methods on a silicon wafer.
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