Room-temperature micro-photonic bolometer based on dielectric optical resonators

Abstract

In this paper we present a room-temperature micro-photonic bolometer that is based on the whispering gallery mode of dielectric resonator (WGM). The sensing element is a hollow micro-spherical optical polymeric resonator. The hollow resonator is filled with a fluid (gas or liquid) that has a large thermal expansion. When an incoming radiation impinges on the resonator is absorbed by the absorbing fluid leading to a thermal expansion of the micro-resonator. The thermal expansion induces changes in the morphology of the resonator (size and index of refraction), that in turn lead to a shift of the optical resonances (WGM). The optical resonances are typically excited using a single mode optical fiber. The preliminary analysis presented in this paper, shows that these sensors can measure energies of the order of 0.1J/m2.