Imaging Nanophotonic Modes of Microresonators using a Focused Ion Beam

Published

January 15, 2016

Author(s)

Kevin A. Twedt, Jie J. Zou, Marcelo I. Davanco, Kartik A. Srinivasan, Jabez J. McClelland, Vladimir A. Aksyuk

Abstract

Optical microresonators have proven powerful in a wide range of applications, including cavity quantum electrodynamics, biosensing, microfludics, and cavity optomechanics. Their performance depends critically on the exact distribution of optical energy, confined and shaped by the nanoscale device geometry. Near-field optical probes can image this distribution, but the physical probe necessarily perturbs the near field, which is particularly problematic for sensitive high quality factor resonances. We present a new approach to mapping nanophotonic modes by introducing a controllably small and local optomechanical perturbation using a focused lithium ion beam. An ion beam (radius ≈50 nm) induces a picometer-scale dynamic deformation of the resonator surface, which we detect through a shift in the optical resonance wavelength. We map five modes of a silicon microdisk resonator (Q≥20,000) with both high spatial and spectral resolution. Our technique also enables in-situ observation of ion implantation damage and relaxation dynamics in a silicon lattice.

Citation

Nature Photonics

Volume

10

Issue

1

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2015.248

Keywords

microresonators, focused ion beams, optomechanics

Citation

Twedt, K. , Zou, J. , Davanco, M. , Srinivasan, K. , McClelland, J. and Aksyuk, V. (2016), Imaging Nanophotonic Modes of Microresonators using a Focused Ion Beam, Nature Photonics, [online], https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2015.248 (Accessed October 27, 2025)