IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,320,780
Granted Patent B2
US 12,320,780 · App. 17/832,507 · Granted Jun 3, 2025

Whispering gallery mode resonators for sensing applications

Inventors: Lan Yang (Clayton, MO); Jiangang Zhu (University City, MO); Guangming Zhao (St. Louis, MO); Scott A. Miller (Ithaca, NY); Danhua Zhao (San Jose, CA); Liren Zhu (Sunnyvale, CA)
Assignee: DEEPSIGHT TECHNOLOGY, INC.
G01N29/2418G01N29/12G01N29/2406G01N29/2437G02B6/29341G01N2291/044G01N2291/106
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,320,780
App. No.
17/832,507
Granted
Jun 3, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

Sensing apparatuses and method of making the sensing apparatuses are disclosed herein. In some variations, a sensing apparatus can comprise at least one optical waveguide, and at least one whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator configured to propagate a set of WGMs, where the WGM resonator communicates to the at least one optical waveguide a set of signals corresponding to the set of WGMs. In some variations, a polymer structure may encapsulate the at least one WGM resonator and/or the at least one optical waveguide. Furthermore, in some variations, the WGM resonator(s) may have one or more selectable modes with different bandwidth and sensitivity for sensing, which may, for example, enable tailoring the sensing apparatus to specific applications having certain bandwidth and/or sensitivity requirements.

Claims (43)

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one optical waveguide;

a plurality of whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonators, each WGM resonator configured to propagate a first set of whispering gallery modes (WGMs); and

a polymer structure encapsulating the at least one optical waveguide and at least one WGM resonator of the plurality of WGM resonators, the polymer structure comprising a first layer that reduces high-order modes in the at least one WGM resonator and a second layer comprising a material having an acoustic impedance matching an acoustic impedance of the at least one WGM resonator,

wherein the at least one WGM resonator is optically coupled to the at least one optical waveguide such that the at least one WGM resonator is configured to communicate to the at least one optical waveguide a first set of signals corresponding to the first set of WGMs.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the polymer structure comprises at least one of:

a backing region configured to attenuate residual ultrasound echoes to prevent reverberation, and

a matching region configured to increase a bandwidth of a WGM frequency response of the plurality of WGM resonators.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the matching region is further configured to improve ultrasound transmission to the plurality of WGM resonators.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein at least one of the backing region and the matching region has a first refractive index lower than a second refractive index of the at least one optical waveguide.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the at least one optical waveguide is embedded in the backing region of the polymer structure.

6. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the at least one optical waveguide is embedded in the matching region of the polymer structure.

7. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the at least one WGM resonator is embedded in the matching region of the polymer structure.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein an effective refractive index of the polymer structure is lower than a refractive index of the at least one WGM resonator.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the polymer structure comprises an ultrasonic enhancement material, comprising polyvinylidene fluoride, parylene, or polystyrene.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein an effective acoustic impedance of the polymer structure matches the acoustic impedance of the at least one WGM resonator.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one WGM resonator comprises at least one of a ring-shaped portion.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one WGM resonator is configured to:

receive a plurality of ultrasound echoes; and

in response to the plurality of ultrasound echoes, propagate a second set of WGMs.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the at least one WGM resonator is further configured to communicate to the at least one optical waveguide a second set of signals corresponding to the second set of WGMs.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising an optical detector communicably coupled to the at least one optical waveguide, wherein the at least one optical waveguide is configured to propagate the first set of signals and the second set of signals to the optical detector.

15. A system comprising the apparatus of claim 12 and a plurality of array elements configured to generate a set of ultrasound signals, wherein the plurality of ultrasound echoes correspond to the set of ultrasound signals.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the array elements comprise at least array element selected from the group consisting of: a piezoelectric sensor, a single crystal material sensor, a piezoelectric micromachined ultrasound transducer (PMUT), and a capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducer sensor (CMUT).

17. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one optical waveguide comprises an optical fiber or an integrated photonic waveguide.

18. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one optical waveguide is coupled to a light source.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the light source comprises a broadband light source or a tunable laser source.

20. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one WGM resonator comprises a hollow chamber.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the hollow chamber includes an ultrasonic enhancement material, comprising polyvinylidene fluoride, parylene, or polystyrene.

22. The apparatus of claim 1 , each WGM resonator of the plurality of WGM resonators is optically coupled to the at least one optical waveguide.

23. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one optical waveguide comprises a plurality of optical waveguides, and each WGM resonator of the plurality of WGM resonators is optically coupled to a respective optical waveguide of the plurality of optical waveguides.

24. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the WGM resonators are grouped in a linear arrangement.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the WGM resonators in the linear arrangement are equally spaced apart.

26. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the WGM resonators in the linear arrangement are unequally spaced apart.

27. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of WGM resonators are bundled in a circular arrangement.

28. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the WGM resonators are equal sizes.

29. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the WGM resonators are unequal sizes.

30. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least one portion of a WGM resonator of the plurality of WGM resonators is applied with a polymer coating.

31. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is configured to detect ultrasound echoes from an object using the plurality of WGM resonators, wherein the apparatus has an angle of detection of approximately 160 degrees.

32. A method of ultrasound imaging comprising:

receiving, from at least one optical waveguide, a first set of signals corresponding to a first set of whispering gallery modes (WGMs) propagating in a plurality of WGM resonators, wherein the at least one optical waveguide and the plurality of WGM resonators are in a polymer structure, the polymer structure comprising a first layer that reduces high-order modes in at least one of the WGM resonators and a second layer comprising a material having an acoustic impedance matching an acoustic impedance of at least one of the WGM resonators;

receiving, from the at least one optical waveguide, a second set of signals corresponding to a second set of WGMs propagating in the plurality of WGM resonators, the second set of WGMs propagating in response to the plurality of WGM resonators receiving a plurality of ultrasound echoes; and

detecting a set of differences between the first set of signals and the second set of signals.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 5, 2022
From: YANG, LAN; ZHU, JIANGANG; ZHAO, GUANGMING; MILLER, SCOTT A.; ZHAO, DANHUA; ZHU, LIREN
To: DEEPSIGHT TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Reel/Frame 060736/0979 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation PCTUS2020064094 · Dec 9, 2020
Provisional Application 62945538 · Dec 9, 2019
Related Publication 20220365036A1 · Nov 17, 2022
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