Fabrication of high-Q crystalline whispering gallery mode microcavities using single-point diamond turning
K. N. Min’kov, Grigorii Likhachev, Nikolay G. Pavlov, A. N. Danilin, Artem E. Shitikov, A. I. Yurin, Evgeny A. Lonshakov, F. V. Bulygin, Valery E. Lobanov, Igor A. Bilenko
Abstract
A method for the fabrication of high-Q crystalline whispering gallery mode optical microresonators using diamond turning and further asymptotic abrasive polishing is developed and described. The proposed method allows the fabrication of microresonators with a predefined geometry and a Q-factor higher than 107. A step-by-step fabrication procedure is presented, important parameters ensuring the optimal quality of the surface of the fabricated microresonators are determined, the inspection procedure for the principal parameters is described, and a review of the fabrication of microresonators from different materials is presented.