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High-Q surface-plasmon-polariton whispering-gallery microcavity

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  • Bumki Min

    (Thomas J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
    Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, 5130 Etcheverry Hall, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
    Present addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 305-751, Republic of Korea (B.M.); Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, Washington University in St Louis, St Louis, Missouri 63130, USA (L.Y.).)

  • Eric Ostby

    (Thomas J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA)

  • Volker Sorger

    (Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, 5130 Etcheverry Hall, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA)

  • Erick Ulin-Avila

    (Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, 5130 Etcheverry Hall, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA)

  • Lan Yang

    (Thomas J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
    Present addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 305-751, Republic of Korea (B.M.); Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, Washington University in St Louis, St Louis, Missouri 63130, USA (L.Y.).)

  • Xiang Zhang

    (Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, 5130 Etcheverry Hall, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
    Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA)

  • Kerry Vahala

    (Thomas J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA)

Abstract

An ideal Q-factor Interest in the properties of surface plasmon polaritons is intense because of their relevance to plasmonics and nanophotonics. They are electron density waves excited at the interface between metals and dielectric materials and interact strongly with light at a subwavelength-scale. A good starting point for useful applications would be a plasmonic micro- or nanocavity with a high figure of merit, or Q-value; a high Q factor means that the plasmons are strongly confined and bounce around many times inside the cavity before escaping, resulting in a rich range of physical properties. Until now the Q-factor for plasmonic resonant cavities has been limited to values less than one hundred for visible and near-infrared wavelengths. Now Min et al. demonstrate a high-Q 'whispering gallery' microcavity for surface plasmons that is fabricated by coating the surface of high-Q silica microresonator with a thin layer of noble metal. This structure enables room-temperature operation with a Q-factor of around 1,380 in the near infrared for surface plasmon modes — a nearly ideal value. The work also includes a coupling scheme where a tapered optical fibre is in near-contact with the cavity, which provides a convenient way for selectively exciting and probing confined plasmon modes.

Suggested Citation

  • Bumki Min & Eric Ostby & Volker Sorger & Erick Ulin-Avila & Lan Yang & Xiang Zhang & Kerry Vahala, 2009. "High-Q surface-plasmon-polariton whispering-gallery microcavity," Nature, Nature, vol. 457(7228), pages 455-458, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:457:y:2009:i:7228:d:10.1038_nature07627
    DOI: 10.1038/nature07627
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    Cited by:

    1. Yaping Wang & Marion C. Lang & Jinsong Lu & Mingqian Suo & Mengcong Du & Yubin Hou & Xiu-Hong Wang & Pu Wang, 2022. "Demonstration of intracellular real-time molecular quantification via FRET-enhanced optical microcavity," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.

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