Abstract

We investigate numerically rotation-induced changes of optical resonances in wavelength-scale dielectric cavities that are deformed from a circle. The relative change in the quality factor due to rotation is usually larger than that of the resonant frequency, even though both exhibit a threshold behavior, i.e., they barely change at low rotation speed. This threshold is increased at large deformation, which lowers the sensitivity to rotation. Presence of wave chaos can further increase the threshold for rotation-induced changes in resonant frequencies. Unlike the resonant frequency and quality factor, the change in far-field emission pattern by rotation does not display a threshold behavior, thus having a higher sensitivity at low rotation speed. The threshold behavior can be eliminated by designing the cavity shape with special symmetry, and the response of the far-field emission to rotation is also enhanced.

© 2015 Optical Society of America

Rotation-induced evolution of far-field emission patterns of deformed microdisk cavities

Li Ge, Raktim Sarma, and Hui Cao
Optica 2(4) 323-328 (2015)

Wavelength-scale microdisks as optical gyroscopes: a finite-difference time-domain simulation study

Raktim Sarma, Heeso Noh, and Hui Cao
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 29(7) 1648-1654 (2012)

Splitting of microcavity degenerate modes in rotating photonic crystals—the miniature optical gyroscopes

Ben Z. Steinberg and Amir Boag
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 24(1) 142-151 (2007)

Rotation-induced superstructure in slow-light waveguides with mode-degeneracy: optical gyroscopes with exponential sensitivity

Ben Z. Steinberg, Jacob Scheuer, and Amir Boag
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 24(5) 1216-1224 (2007)

Resonant spectra of a deformed spherical microcavity

Yiping Han, Loic Méès, Gerard Gouesbet, Zhensen Wu, and Gerard Gréhan
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 23(7) 1390-1397 (2006)