title: Fabrication and characterization of whispering-gallery-mode resonators made of polymers.
abstract: High-quality whispering-gallery-mode resonators made of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) are fabricated by simple mechanical turning and polishing according to a technique used by Ilchenko et al. to produce crystalline whispering-gallery-mode resonators with high quality factors (Q-factors). The high-Q PMMA resonators are investigated in two wavelength regimes: in the near infrared between the wavelengths 1470 and 1580 nm and at the wavelength 635 nm. The Q-factor in the infrared regime is limited by material absorption to 3 x 10(5) At 635 nm the Q-factor is limited by surface scattering only and reaches 4 x 10(7), which is a new record for polymers.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, University of Bonn, Wegelerstr. 8, 53115 Bonn, Germany. schwesyg@physik.uni-bonn.de
authors.forename: Judith R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Schwesyg
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Beckmann
authors.forename: Anne S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.forename: Karsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Buse
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Haertle
mesh_terms: D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008027:Light; D055096:Optical Devices; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate / Q000737:chemistry*; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014159:Transducers
chemical_list: D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate