Affiliation:
1. The Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies
2. University of Auckland
Abstract
As the field of terahertz (THz) photonics advances, we present a monolithic gallium arsenide (GaAs) disk-shaped whispering gallery mode resonator that has potential as a component in THz nonlinear optics. GaAs is a material with significant optical nonlinearity which can be enhanced when the crystal is shaped into a microdisk resonator. A 4-mm-disk-resonator was fabricated using single-point diamond turning and was characterized to obtain a quality (Q) factor of 2.21k at ∼150 GHz and 1.41k at ∼300 GHz. We also demonstrated the blue-shifting of up to ∼0.3 GHz of the THz modes using a block of metal. This post-fabrication degree of freedom could be useful for phase-matching requirements for nonlinear optical processes, such as detection based on optical up-conversion of THz radiation. This proof-of-concept demonstration can pave the way for the implementation of a compact, tunable and efficient device which could be integrated into nonlinear photonic platforms for THz generation, manipulation and detection.
Funder
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Subject
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics