Hydrophobic Silica Microcavities with Sustainable Nonlinear Photonic Performance

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new ultrahigh Q silica microcavity that maintains its quality factor over time in air, enabling sustainable nonlinear photonic performance and stable optical frequency comb generation.

Contribution

It presents a novel silica microcavity design that prevents Q degradation over time, enhancing the longevity and reliability of photonic devices.

Findings

Q factor remains stable over time in air

Optical frequency combs generated with ultralow thresholds

Enhanced durability of silica microcavities in practical applications

Abstract

Ultrahigh quality factor (Q) microcavities have been emerging as an appealing compact photonic platform for various applications. The Q factor plays a critical role in determining the nonlinear optical performance of a microcavity. However, a silica microcavity suffers from severe degradation of its Q value over time during storage or use in air due to the accumulating surface absorption loss, which would deteriorate their nonlinear photonic performance. Here, we report a new type of ultrahigh Q silica microcavity that effectively prevents the Q degradation over time. The Q values of the devices remain unchanged over time under storage in air. Optical frequency combs are generated with sustainable ultralow threshold performance in the course of time from the devices in open air. This approach would greatly facilitate ultrahigh Q silica-based photonic devices for next generation photonic applications.