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Thermo-optical switches using coated microsphere resonators

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

C. Tapalian,
J.-P. Laine and
P. A. Lane
C. Tapalian
Affiliation:
C. S. Draper Laboratory, 555 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA
J.-P. Laine
Affiliation:
C. S. Draper Laboratory, 555 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA
P. A. Lane
Affiliation:
C. S. Draper Laboratory, 555 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA
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Abstract

We report optical switching by a silica microsphere optical resonator coated by a conjugated polymer. Microspheres were fabricated by melting the tip of an optical fiber and coated by dipping in a 1 mg/ml toluene solution of poly(2,5-dioctyloxy-1,4-phenylenevinylene) (DOOPPV). The resonator properties were characterized by evanescently coupling 1.55 μm light propagating along a stripline-pedestal anti-resonant reflecting optical waveguide into optical whispering gallery modes (WGMs). WGM linewidths less than 2 MHz were measured, corresponding to cavity Q > 108. WGM resonant frequency shifts as large as 3.2 GHz were observed when 405 nm pump light with a power density of ∼100 mW/cm2 was incident on the microsphere. The time constant of the observed frequency shifts is approximately 0.165 seconds, leading us to attribute the frequency shift to thermo-optic effects. Such a system should be capable of thermo-optically switching at speeds on the order of 10 kHz.

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References

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