Titanium-doped sputter-deposited AlN infrared whispering gallery mode microlaser on optical fibers

Optical fibers of 12 mu m diameter were coated with a sputter-deposited layer (4 mu m thick) of titanium (1 at. %)-doped amorphous aluminum nitride. When optically pumped by an Nd:YAG green laser at 532 nm, laser action was observed in whispering gallery modes around the fiber (in a ring shape) at 780.5 nm with a quality factor Q > 1500. Other modes were also observed between 775 and 800 nm. The primary and secondary modes give a mode separation of 4.6 nm. No waveguide modes were observed in the cavity. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America