The nonlinear effects and applications of gain doped whispering-gallery mode cavities

¹ School of Artificial Intelligence, Beijing Normal University - Beijing 100875, China
² School of Science, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications - Beijing 100876, China
³ School of Science and the State Key Laboratory of Information Photonics and Optical Communications, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications - Beijing 100876, China
⁴ Applied Optics Beijing Area Major Laboratory, Beijing Normal University - Beijing 100875, China

^(a) E-mail: wangchuan@bnu.edu.cn (corresponding author)

Received: 16 October 2022
Accepted: 12 December 2022

Abstract

Whispering-gallery mode (WGM) cavities formed by dielectric structures have attracted intensive interest in various fields. The high-quality factor and smaller mode volume associated with the optical modes have inspired experiments in nonlinear optics, nanophotonics, and quantum information science. Moreover, they are also used in optical biosensors and other significant applications. To further reduce the material loss of the resonator, optical gain materials, such as erbium and ytterbium, are doped into the dielectric structure to increase the nonlinear effect and enhance the interaction between light and matter. Here in this review, we outline the most recent advancements in gain-doped optical WGM microcavities. Moreover, we introduce the dynamics of the gain in WGM resonators, the integration of gain media into WGM microcavities with various shapes, and the fabrication and applications of the gain microcavities. Also, the applications of the gain cavity based on the whispering-gallery mode have been introduced, e.g., ultra-sensitive sensors, low-threshold lasers, and high-performance optical systems.