Terahertz tuning of whispering gallery modes in a PDMS stand-alone, stretchable microsphere

Opt Lett. 2012 Nov 15;37(22):4762-4. doi: 10.1364/ol.37.004762.

Abstract

We report on tuning the optical whispering gallery modes (WGMs) in a poly dimethyl siloxane-based (PDMS) microsphere resonator by more than 1 THz. The PDMS microsphere system consists of a solid spherical resonator directly formed with double stems on either side. The stems act like tie-rods for simple mechanical stretching of the microresonator, resulting in tuning of the WGMs by one free spectral range. Further investigations demonstrate that the WGM shift has a higher sensitivity (0.13 nm/μN) to an applied force when the resonator is in its maximally stretched state compared to its relaxed state.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Dimethylpolysiloxanes / chemistry*
  • Lasers*
  • Mechanical Phenomena*
  • Microspheres*
  • Optical Phenomena*

Substances

  • Dimethylpolysiloxanes
  • baysilon