Material candidates for optical frequency comb generation in microspheres

This paper evaluates the opportunities for using materials other than silica for optical frequency comb generation in whispering gallery mode microsphere resonators. Different materials are shown to satisfy the requirement of dispersion compensation in interesting spectral regions such as the visible or mid-infrared and for smaller microspheres. This paper also analyses the prospects of comb generation in microspheres within aqueous solution for potential use in applications such as biosensing. It is predicted that to achieve comb generation with microspheres in aqueous solution the visible low-loss wavelength window of water needs to be exploited. This is because efficient comb generation necessitates ultra-high Q-factors, which are only possible for cavities with low absorption of the evanescent field outside the cavity. This paper explores the figure of merit for nonlinear interaction efficiency and the potential for dispersion compensation at unique wavelengths for a host of microsphere materials and dimensions and in different surroundings. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America