Metallic diffraction grating enhanced coupling in whispering gallery resonator

For the first time, metallic diffraction grating is investigated to enable efficient coupling in the whispering gallery resonator (WGR). Six-fold field enhancement in the resonator is achieved with respect to their dielectric counter-parts. This higher coupling efficiency is attributed to the surface plasmon excitation which drives the whispering gallery mode along the grating. Fano resonances have been observed in optical reflection. With the metallic grating, single-port end-fire WGR configuration becomes possible - a scheme that has not been demonstrated in any other WGR coupling devices. Hence, it serves as a prototype for portable whispering gallery devices potentially useful in sensing, switching and nonlinear applications. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America