OPTICAL PROCESSES IN MICROCAVITIES

Studies of optical microresonators with dimensions between 0.1 and 10 microns are now under way in a wide variety of condensed matter systems. Ideally, one can isolate a single mode of the optical field in a cube a halfwavelength on a side with perfectly reflecting walls. Liquid droplets, polymer spheres and semiconductor FabryPerot microcavities with dielectric mirrors are examples of microresonators with which one can approach this ideal limit and nearly isolate a few modes of the electromagnetic field from the continuum of surrounding freespace modes.A new generation of optical microresonators is making possible the exploration of quantum electrodynamic phenomena in condensed matter systems and providing microlasers with a wide range of potential applications. © 1993, American Institute of Physics. All rights reserved.