Abstract The optical transmission spectra of a series of micro-ring resonators (MRRs) are studied following the implantation of gold (Au) ions and subsequent thermal annealing at temperatures between 500 ^ C and 700 ^ C. Whilst we find that this process leads to the ready formation of Au nanoparticles (NPs) partially embedded in the MRR surface, the cavity optical properties, Q-factor and extinction ratio (ER) are severely degraded, for annealing between 500 ^ C and 600 ^ C, but recover again for annealing at 650 ^ C. For an equivalent (control) MRR, which received no Au implantation, thermal annealing alone was also found to degrade the cavity performance.
Liu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.