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Microspheres With Atomic-Scale Tolerances Generate Hyperdegeneracy, Jacob Kher-Alden, Shai Maayani, Leopoldo L. Martin, Mark Douvidzon, Lev Deych, Tal Carmon

Publications and Research

Degeneracies play a crucial rule in precise scientific measurements as well as in sensing applications. Spherical resonators have a high degree of degeneracy thanks to their highest symmetry; yet, fabricating perfect spheres is challenging because even a stem to hold the sphere breaks the symmetry. Here we fabricate a levitating spherical resonator that is evanescently coupled to a standard optical fiber. We characterize the resonators to exhibit an optical quality factor exceeding a billion, 10 μm radius, and sphericity to within less than 1µ. Using our high quality and sphericity, we experimentally lift degeneracies of orders higher than 200, which …