Excitation of photonic atoms (dielectric microspheres) on optical fibers: application to room-temperature persistent spectral hole burning

Recently, photonic atoms (dielectric microspheres) have enjoyed the attention of the optical spectroscopy community. A variety of linear and nonlinear optical processes have been observed in liquid microdroplets. But solid state photonic devices using these properties are scarce. A first of these applications is the room temperature microparticle hole-burning memory. New applications can be envisioned if microparticle resonances can be coupled to traveling waves in optical fibers. In this paper we demonstrate the excitation of narrow morphology dependent resonances of microparticles placed on an optical fiber. Furthermore we reveal a model for this process which describes the coupling efficiency in terms of the geometrical and material properties of the microparticle-fiber system.