Low-threshold optical parametric oscillations in a whispering gallery mode resonator

In whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator light is guided by continuous total internal reflection along a curved surface. Fabricating such resonators from an optically nonlinear material one takes advantage of their exceptionally high quality factors and small mode volumes to achieve extremely effi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysical review letters Vol. 105; no. 26; p. 263904
Main Authors Fürst, J U, Strekalov, D V, Elser, D, Aiello, A, Andersen, U L, Marquardt, Ch, Leuchs, G
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 27.12.2010
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Summary:In whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator light is guided by continuous total internal reflection along a curved surface. Fabricating such resonators from an optically nonlinear material one takes advantage of their exceptionally high quality factors and small mode volumes to achieve extremely efficient optical frequency conversion. Our analysis of the phase-matching conditions for optical parametric down-conversion (PDC) in a spherical WGM resonator shows their direct relation to the sum rules for photons' angular momenta and predicts a very low parametric oscillation threshold. We realized such an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on naturally phase-matched PDC in lithium niobate. We demonstrated a single-mode, strongly nondegenerate OPO with a threshold of 6.7 μW and linewidth under 10 MHz. This work demonstrates the remarkable capabilities of WGM-based OPOs.
ISSN:1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.105.263904