Fabrication of optical cavities with femtosecond laser pulses

Abstract

We report on fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) high-quality (Q) whispering-gallery-mode microcavities by femtosecond laser micromachining. The main fabrication procedures include the formation of on-chip freestanding microdisk through selective material removal by femtosecond laser pulses, followed by surface smoothing processes (CO2 laser reflow for amorphous glass and focused ion beam (FIB) sidewall milling for crystalline materials) to improve the Q factors. Fused silica microcavities with 3D geometries are demonstrated with Q factors exceeding 10(6). A microcavity laser based on Nd:glass has been fabricated, showing a threshold as low as 69 mu W via free space continuous-wave optical excitation at the room temperature. CaF2 crystalline microcavities with Q factor of similar to 4.2x10(4) have also been demonstrated. This technique allows us to fabricate 3D high-Q microcavities in various transparent materials such as glass and crystals, which will benefit a broad spectrum of applications such as nonlinear optics, quantum optics, and bio-sensing.