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Spherical whispering‐gallery‐mode microresonators
Author(s) -
Chiasera A.,
Dumeige Y.,
Féron P.,
Ferrari M.,
Jestin Y.,
Nunzi Conti G.,
Pelli S.,
Soria S.,
Righini G.C.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
laser and photonics reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.778
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1863-8899
pISSN - 1863-8880
DOI - 10.1002/lpor.200910016
Subject(s) - whispering gallery wave , resonator , rayleigh scattering , laser , fabrication , whispering gallery , optics , q factor , simplicity , quality (philosophy) , physics , optoelectronics , materials science , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology , quantum mechanics
Whispering‐gallery modes (WGM) on a spherical surface were first described by Lord Rayleigh at the beginning of the last century, but only after the invention of laser did they start to have some scientific relevance and only during the last two decades there has been a substantial move towards real devices and practical applications. WGM resonators have peculiar properties, the most notable being the potential of having an ultrahigh quality factor Q, which makes them very appealing both as laser cavities and as extremely sensitive sensors. Among the different types of WGM resonators, the microspherical ones represent a very important category, due to their simplicity, easy fabrication, and very high quality. In this review we provide a description of their fundamental properties and we summarize recent works on their application as filters, sensors and lasers.