Optical Bistability in Chip-Scaled Ring Resonators

Ring resonators are critical in optical systems for their compact size and high selectivity. By leveraging optical bistability-arising from nonlinear effects like the Kerr effect-they enable advanced functionalities, whose performance is strictly correlated to ring resonator ones. Here, a silicon nitride ring resonator, with a groundbreaking Q-factor > 150 million and extinction ratio> 5 dB by gaining from low optical losses and Kerr effect, is presented, unlocking new potentials for data storage, sensing and signal processing technologies.