Laser-mode bifurcations induced by PT-breaking exceptional points

• Main Authors: Zhu, Bofeng, Wang, Qi Jie, Chong, Yi Dong
• Other Authors: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Bifurcations; Laser Dynamics; DRNTU::Science::Physics
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/100371; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/48575
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

A laser consisting of two independently pumped resonators can exhibit mode bifurcations that evolve out of the exceptional points (EPs) of the linear system at threshold. The EPs are non-Hermitian degeneracies occurring at the parity–time-reversal (PT) symmetry-breaking points of the threshold system. Above threshold, the EPs become bifurcations of the nonlinear zero-detuned laser modes, which can be most easily observed by making the gain saturation intensities in the two resonators substantially different. Small pump variations can then switch abruptly between different laser behavior, e.g., between below-threshold and PT-broken single-mode operation.