Fano resonances from coupled whispering-gallery modes in photonic molecules

We present a rigorous investigation of resonant coupling between microspheres based on multipole expansions, The microspheres have diameters in the range of several micrometers and can be used to realize various photonic molecule configurations. We reveal and quantify the interactions between the whispering gallery modes inside individual microspheres and the propagation modes of the entire photonic molecule structures. We show that Fano-like resonances in photonic molecules can be engineered by tuning the coupling between the resonant and radiative modes when the structures are illuminated with simple dipole radiation. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America