Ultra-high quality factor metallic micro-cavity based on concentric double metal-insulator-metal rings

Abstract

We propose and numerically investigate a novel ultra-high quality (Q) factor metallic micro-cavity based on concentric double metal-insulator-metal (MIM) rings (CDMR). In this CDMR cavity, because of the angular momentum matching, the strong coupling occurs between the same order modes of the inner and outer rings with huge resonance frequency difference. Consequently, the energy distribution between in the inner and outer rings presents enormous difference. Especially, for the quasi-in-phase CDMR modes, the energy is confined in the inner ring mainly, which suppresses the radiation loss greatly and results in ultra-narrow resonance dips and ultra-high Q factors. The full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of this CDMR cavity can be less than 2 nm and the Q factor can be higher than 300. Moreover, the character of this CDMR metallic micro-cavity can be modulated by varying the gap width between the two MIM rings. Our CDMR metallic micro-cavity provides a new perspective to design the advanced optical cavity with high Q factor and small mode volumes.