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Polarization-Selective Out-Coupling of Whispering-Gallery Modes

Florian Sedlmeir1,2,*, Matthew R. Foreman1,3, Ulrich Vogl1,2, Richard Zeltner1,2, Gerhard Schunk1,2,4, Dmitry V. Strekalov1,2, Christoph Marquardt1,2, Gerd Leuchs1,2, and Harald G. L. Schwefel5

  • 1Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Staudtstraße 2, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
  • 2Institute for Optics, Information and Photonics, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Staudtstraße 7/B2, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
  • 3Department of Physics, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
  • 4School of Advanced Optical Technologies (SAOT), University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Paul-Gordan-Straße 6, 91052 Erlangen, Germany
  • 5The Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies, Department of Physics, University of Otago, 730 Cumberland Street, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand

  • *Corresponding author. florian.sedlmeir@mpl.mpg.de
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Phys. Rev. Applied 7, 024029 – Published 27 February, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.7.024029

Abstract

Whispering-gallery mode (WGM) resonators are an important platform for linear, nonlinear, and quantum optical experiments. In such experiments, independent control of in-coupling and out-coupling rates to different modes can lead to higher conversion efficiencies and greater flexibility in the generation of nonclassical states based on parametric down-conversion. In this work, we introduce a scheme that enables selective out-coupling of WGMs belonging to a specific polarization family, while the orthogonally polarized modes remain largely unperturbed. Our technique utilizes material birefringence in both the resonator and the coupler such that a negative (positive) birefringence allows for polarization-selective coupling to TE (TM) WGMs. We formulate a refined coupling condition suitable for describing the case where the refractive indices of the resonator and the coupler are almost the same, from which we derive a criterion for polarization-selective coupling. Finally, we experimentally demonstrate our proposed method using a lithium niobate disk resonator coupled to a lithium niobate prism, where we show a 22-dB suppression of coupling to TM modes relative to TE modes.

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Phys. Rev. Applied 7, 024029– Published 27 February, 2017
  • Received 5 September 2016

© 2017 American Physical Society

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