Strain-Induced Spectral Tuning of the Whispering Gallery Modes in a Cylindrical Micro-Resonator Formed by a Polymer Optical Fiber

Authors

Vishnu KavungalFollow
Arun Mallik, Technological University DublinFollow
Gerald Farrell, Technological University DublinFollow
Qiang Wu, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UKFollow
Yuliya Semenova, Dublin Institute for Advanced StudiesFollow

Document Type

Article

Rights

Available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International Licence

Disciplines

1.3 PHYSICAL SCIENCES, Optics

Publication Details

Applied Optics, Vol. 56, No. 5 / February 10 2017

Abstract

A mechanical strain assisted technique for spectral tuning of whispering gallery modes (WGM) in a cylindrical micro-resonator formed by a polymer optical fiber (POF) is investigated. WGMs in the POF based micro-cylinder are excited by evanescent light coupling using a tapered single mode silica fiber. WGMs observed in the transmission spectrum of the silica fiber taper have a high extinction ratio of up to 19 dB and a Q-factor of up to 2.64 × 10⁴. The application of tensile axial strain (μɛ) in the range from 0 to 1746 μɛ (0.17 %) to the POF micro-resonator results in a linear shift of the WGM spectrum with a sensitivity of 0.66 pm/μɛ. Under the influence of the applied strain the WGMs undergo a blue shift and return to their initial spectral positions after the strain is decreased. The proposed strain-tunable POF micro-resonator has potential applications in fiber optic sensing and tunable micro lasers.

DOI

10.1364/AO.56.001339

Recommended Citation

Kavungal, V., Farrell, G., Wu, Q., Mallik, A., Semenova, Y. (2017) Strain-induced spectral tuning of the whispering gallery modes in a cylindrical micro-resonator formed by a polymer optical fiber. Applied Optics, Vol. 56, No. 5 / February 10 2017. doi.org/10.1364/AO.56.001339