Abstract

We study circular grating resonators (CGRs) which are formed by a central defect surrounded by concentric rings composing a grating and which display perfect azimuthal modal-symmetry. Because of their radial symmetry they exhibit a complete band gap for a minimal index contrast. However, as is the case for all 2D resonators their quality factors are limited by vertical losses. To reduce the vertical losses we introduce a chirp of the grating period by reducing it towards the central defect. The chirped CGRs exhibit drastically improved quality factors of up to tens of millions with a modal volume of a few cubic wavelengths.

© 2009 Optical Society of America

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History
Original Manuscript: September 2, 2009
Manuscript Accepted: October 28, 2009
Revised Manuscript: October 28, 2009
Published: November 3, 2009

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Author Affiliations

Nikolaj Moll, Thilo Stöferle, Sophie Schönenberger, Rainer F. Mahrt

IBM Research - Zurich

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