Fabrication and characterization of whispering-gallery-mode resonators made of polymers.

High-quality whispering-gallery-mode resonators made of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) are fabricated by simple mechanical turning and polishing according to a technique used by Ilchenko et al. to produce crystalline whispering-gallery-mode resonators with high quality factors (Q-factors). The high-Q PMMA resonators are investigated in two wavelength regimes: in the near infrared between the wavelengths 1470 and 1580 nm and at the wavelength 635 nm.