Analysis of Quality Factor Enhancement in the Monolithic InGaN/GaN Nanorod Array

Abstract

Whispering gallery mode (WGM) lasers and resonators are key building blocks for photonic integrated circuits. The quality factor and resonant wavelength are strong functions of the cavity size. Nanoscale WGM cavities suffer from a low-quality factor due to prominent scattering loss. However, the quality factor could be enhanced by forming an optically-coupled rod array or photonic molecules. Through simulations, we revealed how rod-to-rod optical coupling influenced the threshold pumping level and dominant mode selection, where the trend showed good agreement with the experimental observation. According to the simulation, the quality factor could be enhanced by up to eight times by forming a six-rod photonic molecule. The quality factor and effective mode were both superior to the single rods with the same wafer device footprint.