Microfabricated optofluidic ring resonator structures

We describe the fabrication and preliminary optical characterization of rugged, Si-micromachined optofluidic ring resonator (mu OFRR) structures consisting of thin-walled SiO(x) cylinders with expanded midsections designed to enhance the three-dimensional confinement of whispering gallery modes (WGMs). These mu OFRR structures were grown thermally at wafer scale on the interior of Si molds defined by deep-reactive-ion etching and pre-treated to reduce surface roughness. Devices 85-mu m tall with 2-mu m thick walls and inner diameters ranging from 50 to 200 mu m supported pure-mode WGMs with Q-factors >10(4) near 985 nm. Advantages for eventual vapor detection in gas chromatographic microsystems are highlighted. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3645629]