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Ultra-smooth lithium niobate micro-resonators by surface tension reshaping

Ultra-smooth lithium niobate micro-resonators by surface tension reshaping
Ultra-smooth lithium niobate micro-resonators by surface tension reshaping
Thermal treatment of micro-structured lithium niobate substrates at temperatures close to, but below the melting point, allows surface tension to reshape a preferentially melted surface zone [1] of the crystal to form ultra-smooth single crystal toroidal or spherical structures. Such structures, an example of which is shown in figure 1, are suitable for the fabrication of photonic micro-resonators with low scattering loss. The thermally treated material maintains its single crystal nature after the thermal treatment because the bulk remains solid throughout the process acting as seed during the recrystallization process which takes place during the cooling stage. The single crystal nature of the reshaped material has been verified by piezoresponse force microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and chemical etching. The inherent properties of lithium niobate crystals (optically nonlinear, piezoelectric and electro-optic) makes the resultant micro-resonator extremely suitable for sensing applications, for the production of micro-lasers (if doped with Er or Nd), for nonlinear frequency generation and finally for switching/modulation and tunable spectral filtering in optical telecommunications. The transformation of the initial surface micro-structures to the resulting resonator structure is a temperature dependent process as the surface tension acts on the surface melted layer of the crystal, Experimental investigation and modelling of the thermal treatment as well as investigation of the performance of these microresonators is underway to establish full control of the fabrication process for practical applications.
Ying, C.Y.J.
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Sones, C.L.
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Peacock, A.C.
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Johann, F.
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Soergel, E.
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Eason, R.W.
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Zervas, M.N.
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Mailis, S.
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Ying, C.Y.J.
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Sones, C.L.
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Peacock, A.C.
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Johann, F.
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Soergel, E.
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Eason, R.W.
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Zervas, M.N.
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Mailis, S.
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Ying, C.Y.J., Sones, C.L., Peacock, A.C., Johann, F., Soergel, E., Eason, R.W., Zervas, M.N. and Mailis, S. (2010) Ultra-smooth lithium niobate micro-resonators by surface tension reshaping. Photon 10, , Southampton, United Kingdom. 23 - 26 Aug 2010. 1 pp .

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

Thermal treatment of micro-structured lithium niobate substrates at temperatures close to, but below the melting point, allows surface tension to reshape a preferentially melted surface zone [1] of the crystal to form ultra-smooth single crystal toroidal or spherical structures. Such structures, an example of which is shown in figure 1, are suitable for the fabrication of photonic micro-resonators with low scattering loss. The thermally treated material maintains its single crystal nature after the thermal treatment because the bulk remains solid throughout the process acting as seed during the recrystallization process which takes place during the cooling stage. The single crystal nature of the reshaped material has been verified by piezoresponse force microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and chemical etching. The inherent properties of lithium niobate crystals (optically nonlinear, piezoelectric and electro-optic) makes the resultant micro-resonator extremely suitable for sensing applications, for the production of micro-lasers (if doped with Er or Nd), for nonlinear frequency generation and finally for switching/modulation and tunable spectral filtering in optical telecommunications. The transformation of the initial surface micro-structures to the resulting resonator structure is a temperature dependent process as the surface tension acts on the surface melted layer of the crystal, Experimental investigation and modelling of the thermal treatment as well as investigation of the performance of these microresonators is underway to establish full control of the fabrication process for practical applications.

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e-pub ahead of print date: August 2010
Venue - Dates: Photon 10, , Southampton, United Kingdom, 2010-08-23 - 2010-08-26
Organisations: Optoelectronics Research Centre

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 340565
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/340565
PURE UUID: 6e1ceb04-a7f7-4ffc-bf07-731745a66b90
ORCID for A.C. Peacock: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1940-7172
ORCID for R.W. Eason: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9704-2204
ORCID for M.N. Zervas: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-0651-4059
ORCID for S. Mailis: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8100-2670

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Date deposited: 26 Jun 2012 13:08
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:15

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Contributors

Author: C.Y.J. Ying
Author: C.L. Sones
Author: A.C. Peacock ORCID iD
Author: F. Johann
Author: E. Soergel
Author: R.W. Eason ORCID iD
Author: M.N. Zervas ORCID iD
Author: S. Mailis ORCID iD

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