Opto-mechanical probes of resonances in amplifying microresonators

Abstract

We investigate whether the force and torque exerted by light pressure on an irregularly shaped dielectric resonator allow to detect resonant frequencies, delivering information complemental to the scattering cross section by mechanical means. The peak-to-valley ratio in the torque signal can be many times larger than in the scattering cross section, and, furthermore, depends on the structure of the resonance wave pattern. The far-field emission pattern of the associated quasi-bound states can be tested by the angular dependence of the mechanical probes at finite amplification rate. We relate the force and torque to the scattering matrix and present numerical results for an annularly shaped dielectric resonator.