Dresden 2017 – scientific programme
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DF: Fachverband Dielektrische Festkörper
DF 2: Various Topics I
DF 2.5: Talk
Monday, March 20, 2017, 11:10–11:30, GER 37
Tunability of polymeric whispering gallery mode micro-lasers — •Tobias Siegle1, S. Schierle1, S. Krämmer1, A. M. Flatae1,2, M. Remmel1, B. Richter3, S. Nocentini2, C. Parmeggiani2, H. Zeng2, M. Burresi2, D. Wiersma2, S. F. Wondimu4, P. Schuch4, C. Koos4, and H. Kalt1 — 1Institute of Applied Physics, KIT, Karlsruhe, Germany — 2European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy, Sesto Fiorentino, FI, Italy — 3Zoological Institute, KIT — 4Institute of Microstructure Technology, KIT
Realizing tunable micro-optical devices, e.g., filters or lasers is a challenging task. A possibility is to use mechanically flexible structures. However, often lithographic fabrication and the rigidity of conventional materials induce an inflexibility. Here, we demonstrate that the flexibility of polymers can be utilized for widely tunable photonic circuits.
We review the fabrication of polymeric whispering gallery mode (WGM) micro-lasers and show their superiority in post-fabrication configuration tuning. The first example demonstrates resonance tuning by exploiting liquid crystal elastomers (LCE). When integrated into the cavity, a LCE cylinder can function as a micro-actuator modifying the resonator diameter and hence tuning the WGM resonances.
Polymers allow substrate-independent fabrication based on direct laser writing. As a second example we present the flexible coupling of WGM cavities structured on elastomer substrates. Reducing the inital inter-cavity gap through deformation of the substrate leads to the formation of photonic molecules. Tunable coupling is verified by exponential trends in the intensities of arising super-modes.