Articles by Ashley J. Maker in JoVE

Fabrication of Silica Ultra High Quality Factor Microresonators

JoVE 4164 7/02/2012

Ashley J. Maker¹, Andrea M. Armani^1,2

¹Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, ²Department of Electrical Engineering-Electrophysics, University of Southern California

We describe the use of a carbon dioxide laser reflow technique to fabricate silica resonant cavities, including free-standing microspheres and on-chip microtoroids. The reflow method removes surface imperfections, allowing long photon lifetimes within both devices. The resulting devices have ultra high quality factors, enabling applications ranging from telecommunications to biodetection.