Ultrahigh-Q WGM microspheres from ZBLAN for the mid-IR band

The advantages of high-quality-factor (high-Q) whispering gallery mode (WGM) microresonators can be applied to develop novel photonic devices for the mid-infrared (mid-IR) range. ZBLAN (glass based on heavy metal fluorides) is one of the most promising materials to be used for this purpose due to lo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics letters 2022-12, Vol.47 (24), p.6325-6328
Main Authors: Tebeneva, Tatiana S, Shitikov, Artem E, Benderov, Oleg V, Lobanov, Valery E, Bilenko, Igor A, Rodin, Alexander V
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Fluorides
Heavy metals
Metal fluorides
Microspheres
Optical fibers
Q factors
Whispering gallery modes
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Summary:The advantages of high-quality-factor (high-Q) whispering gallery mode (WGM) microresonators can be applied to develop novel photonic devices for the mid-infrared (mid-IR) range. ZBLAN (glass based on heavy metal fluorides) is one of the most promising materials to be used for this purpose due to low optical losses in the mid-IR. We developed an original, to the best of our knowledge, fabrication method based on melting of commercially available ZBLAN-based optical fiber to produce high-Q ZBLAN microspheres with the diameters of 250 to 350 m. We effectively excited whispering gallery modes in these microspheres and demonstrated high quality factor both at 1.55 m and 2.64 m. Intrinsic quality factor at telecom wavelength was shown to be (5.4 ± 0.4) × 10 which is defined by the material losses in ZBLAN. In the mid-IR at 2.64 m we demonstrated record quality factor in ZBLAN exceeding 10 which is comparable to the highest values of the Q-factor among all materials in the mid-IR.
ISSN:0146-9592
1539-4794
DOI:10.1364/OL.475259