Fiber taper coupling to chalcogenide microsphere modes

Abstract

We report the fabrication and optical characterization of microsphere in chalcogenide (As2Se3). We show that high Q modes of a 9.2μm diameter chalcogenide glass can be efficiently excited via evanescent coupling using a silica tapered fiber. Loaded Q factors of more than 20 000 have been measured. Fine analysis of the coupling spectrum around 1619nm led to an estimation of the microsphere eccentricity of less than 1%. Owing to the unique combination properties of chalcogenide glass and the microspheres geometry, we expect this architecture to offer an ideal environment for versatile applications on both the telecommunication and midinfrared wavelength windows.

WGM microresonators: sensing, lasing and fundamental optics with microspheres

“…A novel method for the simultaneous production of many small spheres was demonstrated by Grillet et al [34]. A tapered optical chalcogenide fiber, 30 mm in length and 1 μm in diameter, was pumped at 1550 nm with 25 mW of power.…”

A New Route for Fabricating On‐Chip Chalcogenide Microcavity Resonator Arrays

“…Methods compatible to mass production can produce hundreds of polydisperse spheres. [ 15,16 ] However, spheres with a desired shape and optical quality need to be separated from the debris by very elaborate and laborious techniques, and manipulated by their attachment on a fi ber tip [ 17 ] or using optical tweezers. [ 18 ] Other methods, similar to production of silica spheres, rely on melting the tip of a chalcogenide fi ber by laser heating.…”

“…[ 21,22 ] The integration of a single chalcogenide sphere coupled to a tapered fi ber has been demonstrated by packaging the system using a UV-curable polymer. [ 23 ] Another route towards the production of chalcogenide microspheres is to induce the Plateau-Rayleigh (PR) capillary instability [ 24,25 ] in a chalcogenide fi ber, which was fi rst shown by optical fusing the bare core in the midair [ 16 ] and recently in a polymer cladding for small fi ber lengths (<1 mm) by using a tapering process [ 26 ] and a local heat treatment. [ 27 ] Here, we report a novel versatile method for the high yield production and on-chip integration of self-assembled globally oriented high-Q WGM chalcogenide microresonators with surface-tension-induced spherical, spheroidal, and ellipsoidal boundaries with sub-nanometer roughness.…”

Short vertical tube furnace for the fabrication of doped glass microsphere lasers

“…A novel method for the simultaneous production of many small spheres was demonstrated by Grillet et al 16 A tapered optical chalcogenide fiber, 30 mm in length and 1 m in diameter, was pumped at 1550 nm with 25 mW of power. Optical absorption combined with the small mode volume of the chalcogenide fiber caused the fiber taper waist to melt and break apart; surface tension quickly pulls the small pieces into spheres with diameters between 3 and 15 m. Another interesting approach evaporated telluride glass from the end of an optical fiber using a CO 2 laser.…”