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Published February 15, 1998 | public
Journal Article Open

High-Q measurements of fused-silica microspheres in the near infrared

Abstract

Measurements of the quality factor Q ~ 8 x 10^9 are reported for the whispering-gallery modes (WGM's) of quartz microspheres for the wavelengths 670, 780, and 850 nm; these results correspond to finesse F ~ 2.2 x 10^6. The observed independence of Q from wavelength indicates that losses for the WGM's are dominated by a mechanism other than bulk absorption in fused silica in the near infrared. Data obtained by atomic force microscopy combined with a simple model for surface scattering suggest that Q can be limited by residual surface inhomogeneities. Absorption by absorbed water can also explain why the material limit is not reached at longer wavelengths in the near infrared.

Additional Information

© 1998 Optical Society of America Received November 11, 1997 This study was supported by the U.S. Office of Naval Research (grant N00014-96-1-0580), the National Science Foundation, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency through the Quantum Information and Scholarship Institute administered by the U.S. Army Research Office. D. W. Vernooy acknowledges receipt of a National Science and Engineering Research Council '67 Science and Engineering Scholarship. E. W. Streed acknowledges support from a California Institute of Technology (Caltech) Science and Engineering Research Fellowship. We thank R. Rossi and the Molecular Materials Science Resource Center at Caltech's Beckman Institute for AFM use and expertise and M. L. Gorodetsky for discussion.

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