TITLE:
AFM Analysis on Polymer Optical Micro-Resonators: Investigation on Quality Factor Origin
AUTHORS:
David Pluchon, Nolwenn Huby, Véronique Vié, Pascal Panizza, Bruno Bêche
KEYWORDS:
Optical Micro-Resonators; Quality Factor Origin; Atomic Force Microscopy;Surface Analysis; Scattering Loss
JOURNAL NAME:
Optics and Photonics Journal,
Vol.3 No.4,
August
8,
2013
ABSTRACT: This paper deals with the surface analysis of spherical
polymeric optical micro-resonators in order to correlate surface defects with
optical characteristics. Atomic force microscopy was used on structures to
determine surface quality, which is the main origin of optical scattering
losses. Surface morphologies were numerically treated to enable a relevant investigation
on surface parameters such as root mean square (RMS) roughness (30.1 +/- 3.0 nm) or
correlation length (few microns) necessary to express optical quality factors.
A statistical analysis was conducted for calibration of these parameters as a
function of cavities’ diameter. Results are in perfect agreement with spectral
analyses performed in parallel on others structures. This comparison highlights
the main role of scattering losses on quality factor origin.