Optics Communications 284 (2011) 5513–5516

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Optics Communications
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / o p t c o m

Complex-number asymmetry parameters of the optical Fano effect in ring resonators

Makoto Tomita ⁎, Hideo Ebihara
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Shizuoka University, 836, Ohya, Suruga-ku Shizuoka, 422-8529, Japan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: We studied the sharp asymmetric Fano line shape in fiber ring resonator systems and provided an explicit
Received 7 March 2011 expression for asymmetry parameters using the physical parameters of the system. The fiber ring system was
Received in revised form 7 June 2011 controllable and reconfigurable, allowing us to produce a variety of Fano line shapes in different
Accepted 5 August 2011
configurations. Experimentally observed asymmetric spectral structures were fully reproduced using the
Available online 23 August 2011
complex-number asymmetry parameters, validating the approximations used to reduce the analytical
Keywords:
expression for the line shape to the phenomenological Fano formula. The results may be useful in the design of
Ring resonator on-chip application systems.
Fano effect © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Transmission spectrum
Add-drop filter

The Fano effect is a ubiquitous phenomenon that occurs when one or
more discrete levels interact with a continuum of states. This effect was
originally discussed by Fano with regard to the atomic absorption line
shape and analyzed within the Green's function formalism [1]. The
absorption spectrum displayed a peculiar asymmetric line shape
generated by the configuration interaction between the discrete levels
and continuum of states. The effect has been observed for a wide variety
of physical systems, including nanofabricated photonic systems [2–9].
The sharp and asymmetric line shapes have been suggested to be useful
in photonic applications. A photonic structure created by placing two
partially reflecting elements in the waveguides side-coupled with an
optical micro-cavity can significantly reduce the on/off switching
performance [10] or improve the slope sensitivity for sensor applications
[8]. Similar effects have been observed in coupled microspheres [11–13]
in multimode taper fibers coupled with a single microsphere [14] and in
two originally orthogonal modes coupled by a common waveguide [15].
In some cases, the observed asymmetric line shapes were phenom-
enologically fitted using the Fano formula without detailed discussion of
the underlying physical processes. This phenomenological approach is
successful and useful in some cases, but this approach fails in other cases.
That is, the analytically obtained expression for the line shape cannot be
reduced to the simple Fano formula within acceptable approximations.
For example, in tandem-coupled resonators, in which the resonance
widths of two resonances do not differ significantly, experimental data
deviate from the Fano formula [12]. Also, the Fano formula should have a
complex-number asymmetry parameter. However, in some reports, the
fitted value was obtained under the restriction of real values of the
asymmetry parameter. Here, we investigated the systems and approx-
imations that enable the line shape to be reduced to the conventional
Fano formula. We implemented add-drop-type [16,17] and conventional-
type ring resonators to interact with a reference field as ideal systems, in
which the ring resonators acted as the discrete level, and the reference
arm acted as the continuum of states. An explicit expression for the
asymmetry parameters is given based on complex numbers relevant to
the deterministic parameters of the system. Experimentally observed
asymmetric spectral structures were fully reproduced using the complex-
number asymmetry parameters, and the results may be useful in the
design of on-chip application systems.
Fig. 1 shows the experimental setup with (a) add-drop-type and
(b) conventional-type ring resonators. We used single-mode fibers to
construct the ring resonator, in which the physical length of the ring
was LR = 260 cm. A single-mode fiber laser was used as the incident
light source. The spectral width was 2 kHz, and the laser frequency
was tuned by piezoelectric control of the cavity length. First, the laser
frequency was varied on the order of the free spectral range (FSR), and
we selected specific resonances of this system. Then, the laser
frequency was swept finely around the resonance to observe the
spectrum. The couplers C1, C2, and C5 were 90:10, 99:1, and 90:10,
respectively. The transmission intensity through the system was
measured as a function of laser frequency using an InGaAs
photodetector and was reordered by a digital oscilloscope.
The transmission of an electric field through an add-drop-type ring
resonator can be analyzed using the directional coupling theory [18].
The transmission probability amplitude of the electric field is given by
" #
1=2 ð1−y1 Þ1=2 ð1−y2 Þ1=2 x1 expð−iφ1 ðν ÞÞ
Esig ðνÞ = a1 ð1−γ2 Þ ; ð1Þ
1−y1 y2 x1 x2 expð−iφ0 ðνÞÞ

⁎ Corresponding author. where a1 is the electric field input into the ring resonator, φ0(ν) =
E-mail address: spmtomi@ipc.shizuoka.ac.jp (M. Tomita). nνLR/c, φ1(ν) = nνLR1/c, LR = LR1 + LR2, n is the refractive index, c is the

0030-4018/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.optcom.2011.08.016
5514 M. Tomita, H. Ebihara / Optics Communications 284 (2011) 5513–5516

where

ηα a1 −iθ
qα = −i + e ð5Þ
a2

Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of the experimental system. (a) Add-drop ring resonator
and (b) conventional ring resonator. The rings (green) denote the ring resonator with
the cavity length LR = 260 cm, the solid circles (blue) denote the coupler, and Lsig1
+ Lsig2 and Lref are the lengths of the signal and reference arms, respectively.
velocity of light, yi, i = 1, 2 are coupling parameters at the coupler Ci,
and xi = (1 − γi) 1/2exp(− ρiLi), i = 1, 2 are loss parameters along the
paths LRi. We assumed that the frequency width of the resonance line
was narrow, δν bb FSR, and expanded it as e − iφ ≈ 1 − iφ to obtain
and ε = ξαϕ0(ν). Eq. (4) is exactly the same as the conventional Fano
formula, which has been used in the phenomenological analysis of
observed line shapes. The symbol qα, the asymmetry parameter, is a
complex number defined by Eq. (5). When qα = 0, the spectral shape
is symmetric, while as qα increases, the spectral shape becomes more
asymmetric. The most crucial factor for qα, which characterizes the
asymmetry, is the relative phase between the signal and reference
beams, θ.
The fiber ring resonator system is highly controllable and
reconfigurable compared to nanofabricated waveguide systems,
allowing us to produce a variety of Fano line shapes in different
resonator configurations and to validate the approximations. Fig. 2
shows the experimental results. First, we measured the transmission
intensity profile through the bare add-drop ring resonator by
removing the reference arm. The solid line in Fig. 2(a) shows the
transmission profile from the ring resonator, exhibiting a symmetric
peak at the resonance frequency. The thin dashed line (red) was
calculated using the Lorentian profile with a resonance width of
δν = 5.2 MHz. The thick dashed line (green) denotes the curve
calculated using Eq. (1). Both curves agreed with the observation,
indicating that the approximation δν bb FSR was appropriate in the
present case. Then, the reference arm was introduced, and the total
output intensity profile through the system was measured. The solid
line in Fig. 2(b) shows an example of the observed spectral structures.
The spectrum shows a sharp asymmetric Fano interference profile.
While physical parameters of the system are deterministic, the
relative phase shift θ was not measured independently. Thus, we
fitted the experimental data using Eq. (1) to obtain θ, and qα was
calculated using Eq. (5). The thin dashed line (red) in Fig. 2(b) denotes
curves calculated using the Fano formula of Eq. (4) with the obtained

ηα
Esig ðνÞ = ; ð2Þ
ξα φ0 ðνÞ−i

where

ð1−γ2 Þ1=2 ð1−y1 Þ1=2 ð1−y2 Þ1=2 x1 expð−iφ1 Þ

ηα = i ;
1−y1 y2 x1 x2
y1 y2 x1 x2
ξα = :
1−y1 y2 x1 x2

The reference field is

inνLref = c iθðν Þ
Eref = a2 e = a2 e : ð3Þ

Additionally, we assumed that nΔLδν/c b b 2π, where ΔL = Lsig − Lref

and Lsig and Lref are the length of the signal and reference arms,
respectively. Thus, the relative phase difference between the signal
and reference arms was constant as the laser frequency was scanned
across the resonance. The total outgoing intensity can be expressed as
Fig. 2. Example of the transmitted intensity profile as a function of laser detuning
2 frequency. (a) The add-drop ring resonator without the reference field and (b) through
I ðνÞ = jEsig ðνÞ + Eref j the total system with the reference field. The solid lines (black) denote the
2 ð4Þ experimental results, and the thin dashed lines (red) denote the (a) Lorentian curve
jε−qα j
= ja2 j2 ; and (b) the curve calculated using Eq. (4), with asymmetry parameter q = 1.74−1.0i.
ε2 + 1 The thick dashed line (green) denotes the curve calculated based on Eq. (1).
 M. Tomita, H. Ebihara / Optics Communications 284 (2011) 5513–5516 5515

complex parameter, qα = 1.74−1.0i, resulting in a good fit. An

alternative approach to find qα is to fit to the data directly to the
same Fano formula. We performed this fitting independently, and it
gave reasonable values for qα. Here, the imaginary part of q
predominantly determines the intensity minimum at the negative
side just below the resonance frequency. Fig. 3 shows examples of
other interference patterns observed in the same system. The relative
phase of the reference and signal arms θ was shifted to select specific
resonances by adjusting the incident laser frequency while other
parameters, such as the coupling parameter and fiber length were
fixed. All the observed asymmetric spectral shapes were fully
reproduced by the Fano formula using the complex-number asym-
metry parameter. The asymmetry parameter in the Fano formula is
sometimes based on real values rather than complex numbers. When
q is defined within real values, however, I(ν) goes to zero at ε = − q
for all values of q. Note that this behavior was not observed in our
experiments (Fig. 3), confirming that a complex-number asymmetry Fig. 4. Transmitted intensity profiles though the conventional ring resonator system for
parameter q is required to reproduce the observed Fano-type line different reference phase shifts. The solid lines (black) are the experimental results, and
shape. In the original analysis of the Fano formula based on the atomic the dashed lines (red) are calculations using Eq. (6). Parameter qβ: (a) −1.16+1.38i, (b)
−1.17+0.62i, (c) 0.19−0.21i, and (d) 0.72. The corresponding phase shift, θ: (a) 0.10π, (b)
absorption line, the symmetry parameter q is a function of the
0.30π, (c) 1.10π, and (d) 1.70π.
interaction matrix element between the discrete level and the
continuum of states; thus, q can also be expressed by complex
numbers.
To validate the analysis, we performed a similar experiment using this system, the transmission intensity profile as a function of laser
different configurations of the ring resonator. Fig. 1(b) shows the frequency was again given by the traditional Fano formula,
conventional ring resonator interaction with the reference field. In
2
−iθ 1=2 2 jε−qβ j
Iðν Þ = ja2 e + a1 ð1−γ5 Þ y5 j ð6Þ
ε +1
2

with the complex asymmetry parameter

a1 ηβ
qβ = −i−  −iθ ; ð7Þ
a2 e + a1 y

where
   
x5 1−y25 expð−iϕÞ 1=2
x5 1−y25
1=2
ηβ = −ið1−γ5 Þ ≈−ið1−γ5 Þ
ð1−x5 y5 Þ ð1−x5 y5 Þ
y5 x5
ξβ = ;
1−y5 x5

and ε = ξβϕ0(ν). Fig. 4 shows examples of observed patterns when the

Fig. 3. Transmitted intensity profiles through the add-drop ring resonator system for
different phase shifts between the signal and the reference arms. The solid lines (black)
are the experimental results, and the dashed lines (red) are calculations using Eq. (4).
Parameter qα: (a) −1.41−2.03i, (b) −0.54−2.66i, (c) −2.75i, (d) 1.41−2.03i, (e) (same
as Fig. 2(b)) 1.74−1.0i, (f) 1.64 + 0.74i, (g) −0.54+ 0.66i, and (h) −1.23+ 0.23i. The
corresponding phase shift, θ: (a) 0.10π, (b) 0.25π, (c) 0.50π, (d) 0.70π, (e) 0.9π, (f) 1.35π,
(g) 1.60π, and (h) 1.75π.
relative phase of the reference and signal arms was shifted by
adjusting the incident laser frequency. In the conventional-type ring
resonator, the pre-factor |a2e − iθ + a1y5| 2 varies slowly as a function of
θ. Comparison with the Fano formula fitting was performed after the
normalization of this factor. Experimentally observed asymmetric
spectral structures were again fully reproduced using the asymmetry
parameters given by the complex numbers in Eq. (7), which were
relevant to the optical parameters of the system.
In summary, we investigated the sharp asymmetric spectral
structures attributable to the Fano effect in ring resonator systems
and provided an explicit expression for the asymmetry parameters
using system parameters. The fiber ring system is highly controllable
and reconfigurable, allowing us to produce a variety of Fano line
shapes in this system. Experimentally observed structures were fully
reproduced using the complex-number asymmetry parameters. The
crucial factor determining the asymmetry is the relative phase
between the signal and reference fields. The manipulation of the
relative phase may be useful in the design of on-chip application
systems such as tunable Fano devices in which the phase shifter
regions are implemented within the reference waveguide sections.
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