Cavity continuum

We experimentally demonstrate and numerically analyze large arrays of whispering gallery resonators. Using fluorescent mapping, we measure the spatial distribution of the cavity ensemble’s resonances, revealing that light reaches distant resonators in various ways, including while passing through dark gaps, resonator groups, or resonator lines. Energy spatially decays exponentially in the cavities. Our practically infinite periodic array of resonators, with a quality factor (Q) exceeding 10⁷, might impact a new type of photonic ensembles for nonlinear optics and lasers using our cavity continuum that is distributed, while having high-Q resonators as unit cells.