Photonic molecules (PMs) are of great interest for, e.g., optical filters/sensors or topological and exceptional-point photonics. A key requirement for their versatile application is the tunability of the PM’s coupling strength. This important feature is realized in the here introduced widely and precisely tunable PM on an all-polymeric chip-scale platform. The PM consists of two disk-shaped whispering gallery mode cavities on a liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) substrate. The coupling strength of the PM is controlled via the contraction of the LCE under an external stimulus like local heating. We reveal the reversible (de)coupling via the analysis of laser supermodes emitted from a dye-doped PM. The tunability of the PM’s coupling strength is apparent from the pronounced mode splittings observed in single-fiber transmission spectra and is consistent with coupled-mode theory. Finally, we demonstrate the applicability of the PM as an add-drop filter with a highly controllable intensity transfer. In this light, our PM on an LCE substrate represents a novel platform system for tunably coupled photonic resonators.

中文翻译：

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通过热驱动实现芯片级光子分子的可调谐耦合

光子分子 (PM) 对例如光学滤波器/传感器或拓扑和异常点光子学非常感兴趣。其多功能应用的一个关键要求是 PM 耦合强度的可调性。这一重要特性在此处介绍的全聚合物芯片级平台上广泛且精确可调的 PM 中实现。PM 由液晶弹性体 (LCE) 基板上的两个盘形回音壁模式腔组成。PM 的耦合强度是通过 LCE 在外部刺激（如局部加热）下的收缩来控制的。我们通过分析从掺杂染料的 PM 发射的激光超模来揭示可逆（去）耦合。从单光纤传输光谱中观察到的明显模式分裂可以明显看出 PM 耦合强度的可调性，并且与耦合模式理论一致。最后，我们证明了 PM 作为具有高度可控强度转移的分插滤波器的适用性。有鉴于此，我们在 LCE 基板上的 PM 代表了用于可调谐耦合光子谐振器的新型平台系统。