Laser frequency stabilization with toroidal optical microresonators

Progress towards semiconductor laser frequency stabilization using optical feedback from microtoroidal resonators is presented. A simple model of the feedback mechanism is provided, and equations of motion describing the system fields are given. Reactive ion etcher based fabrication of microtoroidal resonators with intrinsic quality factors as high as 1.6 x 105 is demonstrated. This fabrication technique enables improved silicon surface quality and greater control of the physical structure of the microresonators.

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