Whispering gallery modes in semiconductor optical fibres and optical bottle microresonators

Abstract

We explore the optical properties of whispering gallery modes (WGMs) in silicon optical fibres and optical bottle microresonators. In particular, a pump-probe technique is used to experimentally demonstrate thermally induced all-optical modulation. High quality (Q) factors and small mode volumes are utilized to demonstrate ultrafast Kerr effect based modulation and switching. Q factors exceeding ~107 are demonstrated for novel microbottle resonators (MBRs), fabricated from standard telecommunications fibres.