Sensitivity of silica microspheres modified by xerogel layers to acetone and ethanol

The paper deals with the preparation and characterization of whispering-gallery-mode silica spherical microresonators and with effects of liquid acetone, ethanol, and xerogel layers applied onto these microresonators on their resonance spectra. Microrespheres with diameters ranging from 320 to 360 μm have been prepared by heating a tip of a silica fiber with a hydrogen-oxygen burner. The microspheres were excited by a fiber taper or a bulk prism and their resonance spectra were measured. Values of the Q factor from 104 to 106 have been determined from these spectra. In experiments, it has been found that short contact of microspheres with acetone causes a shift of resonance dips due to surface effects caused by acetone. A decrease of the Q factor has been observed with a microresonator onto which a xerogel silica layer was applied by the sol-gel method. A very high decrease of the Q factor has been observed when the silica microresonator was brought in contact with liquid ethanol.

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