A coupled waveguide optical microresonator is formed from a plurality of microcylinders coupled together. Each microcylinder includes a resonant waveguide. At least one of the microcylinders is adapted to be positioned adjacent an optical source waveguide for optically coupling light from an optical source waveguide onto the resonant waveguide on the microcylinder. The microcylinders are coupled together at the resonant waveguides, which are mutually coupled. Any coupled fields add coherently with each other.