Temperature Sensors Based on WGM Optical Resonators

Differences between temperature-dependent frequencies of resonances would be measured.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California

A proposed technique for measuring temperature would exploit differences between the temperature dependences of the frequencies of two different electromagnetic modes of a whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) optical resonator. An apparatus based on this technique was originally intended to be part of a control system for stabilizing a laser frequency in the face of temperature fluctuations. When suitably calibrated, apparatuses based on this technique could also serve as precise temperature sensors for purposes other than stabilization of lasers.