Optimization of adiabatic microring resonators with few-mode and high-Q resonances

We present the theoretical analysis and experimental demonstration of adiabatic microring resonators. The resonators are halfway between microdisk and microring preserving the good properties of both the microdisk (high Q-factor) and the microring (internal mode rejection). Device modeling based on the coupled-mode theory suggests that both the internal and external decay rates should be low in order to obtain high-Q and high extinction ratio resonances. The internal decay is modal-order-dependent and significantly affected by the adiabatic tapering rate of the ring waveguide. The external delay is determined by the modal effective index difference between the bus and ring waveguides at the coupling point under a fixed gap. Upon optimization of the resonator system, two resonance modes in the measured device are measured with one possessing a high Q-factor.