Cavity Q Measurements of Silica Microspheres with Nanocluster Silicon Active Layer

In this paper, the effect of the nanocluster-silicon (nc-Si) active layer on the cavity Q of silica microspheres is investigated. The silicon-rich silicon oxide (SRSO) (140plusmn10 nm thick) films with excess Si content ranging from 5 to 14 at.% were deposited on the silica microspheres formed by th...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inIEEE journal of selected topics in quantum electronics Vol. 12; no. 6; pp. 1388 - 1393
Main Authors Joo-Yeon Sung, Tewary, A., Brongersma, M.L., Shin, J.H.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published IEEE 01.11.2006
Subjects
Annealing
Fiber lasers
Loss mechanism
microsphere
nanocluster Si
Optical coupling
Optical fibers
Optical films
Optical scattering
Q measurement
Semiconductor films
Silicon compounds
Temperature distribution
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:In this paper, the effect of the nanocluster-silicon (nc-Si) active layer on the cavity Q of silica microspheres is investigated. The silicon-rich silicon oxide (SRSO) (140plusmn10 nm thick) films with excess Si content ranging from 5 to 14 at.% were deposited on the silica microspheres formed by the CO 2 laser melting of an optical fiber, and subsequently annealed at temperatures ranging from 650degC to 1100 degC. The cavity Q of the spheres with the active layer was measured at 1.56 mum using a tunable external cavity coupled laser diode and a tapered fiber coupling. We find that the presence of the nc-Si active layer reduces the Q value of the microsphere from ges 2times10 7 to (2-5) times10 5 . However, we found no correlation between the formation, size, and density of the nc-Si and the cavity Q-factor, indicating that the scattering by the nc-Si does not present the dominant optical loss mechanism in the SRSO film
ISSN:1077-260X
1558-4542
DOI:10.1109/JSTQE.2006.885631