Chaos is a phenomenon that occurs in many aspects of contemporary science. In classical dynamics, chaos is defined as a hypersensitivity to initial conditions. The presence of chaos is often unwanted, as it introduces unpredictability, which makes it difficult to predict or explain experimental results. Conversely, we demonstrate here how chaos can be used to enhance the ability of an optical resonator to store energy. We combine analytic theory with ab-initio simulations and experiments in photonic crystal resonators to show that a chaotic resonator can store six times more energy than its classical counterpart of the same volume. We explain the observed increase with the equipartition of energy among all degrees of freedom of the chaotic resonator, i.e. the cavity modes, which is evident from the convergence of their lifetime towards a single value. A compelling illustration of the theory is provided by demonstrating enhanced absorption in deformed polystyrene microspheres.
A broadband chaotic laser with a flat power spectrum extending up to 8.5GHz is achieved by injecting continuous wave laser light into a chaotic diode laser perturbed by fiber random grating induced distributed feedback, which forms a gain-coupled chaotic laser system. More than triple bandwidth enhancement is realized with appropriate frequency detuning between the master and slave lasers. Unlike normal chaotic lasers, the output from such a broadband chaotic laser is free from time-delay signature, which can be applied for practical real-time random number generations and will find useful app…
Programmable ultra-broadband photonic chaos platform enabled by microwave-chaos-driven electro-optic frequency combs
State Key Laboratory of Optical Field Manipulation Science and Technology, Institute of Optics and Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院光电技术研究所光场操控科学与技术重点实验室）；Research Center on Vector Optical Fields, Institute of Optics and Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院光电技术研究所矢量光学场研究中心）；Tianfu Xinglong Lake Laboratory（天府兴隆湖实验室）；College of Materials Science and Opto-Electronic Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学材料科学与光电技术学院）
Unidirectionally propagating waves (UPW) such as topologically protected edge modes and surface magnetoplasmons (SMPs) has been a research hotspot in the last decades. In the study of UPW, metals are usually treated as perfect electric conductors (PECs) which, in general, are the boundary conditions. However, it was reported that the transverse resonance condition induced by the PEC wall(s) may significantly narrow up the complete one-way propagation (COWP) band. In this paper, we propose two ways to achieve ultra-broadband one-way waveguide in terahertz regime. The first way is utilizing the …
It is challenging for observing superbunching effect with true chaotic light, here we propose and demonstrate a method to achieve superbunching effect of the degree of second-order coherence is 2.42 with broadband stationary chaotic light based on a cascaded Michelson interferometer (CMI), exceeding the theoretical upper limit of 2 for the two-photon bunching effect of chaotic light. The superbunching correlation peak is measured with an ultrafast two-photon absorption detector which the full width at half maximum reaches about 95 fs. Two-photon superbunching theory in a CMI is developed to in…
Differing from the traditional method of achieving subwavelength interference, we have demonstrated the two-photon subwavelength interference effect of broadband chaotic light in a polarization-selective Michelson interferometer with an ultrafast two-photon absorption detector the first time, which is achieved by manipulating two-photon probability amplitudes involved in the interference. In theory, the two-photon polarization coherence matrix and probability amplitudes matrix are combined to develop polarized two-photon interference terms, which explains the experimental results well. In orde…
The phenomenon of trapping broad spectrum of light is known as `rainbow trapping' and achieved using all-dielectric, hybrid metallo-dielectric or all-metallic configurations. In the latter cases, unavoidable ohmic losses result in sub-picosecond trapped-mode lifetimes. For all practical purposes, novel strategies are required to be devised for trapping and subsequently, releasing broadband electromagnetic (em) field with lifetime > 1 ps. We present a rainbow trapping configuration using the excitation of multiple optical Tamm (OT) modes in an one-dimensional chirped photonic crystal (PC) desig…
We propose the optical trapping of Rayleigh particles using tailored anisotropic and hyperbolic metasurfaces illuminated with a linearly polarized Gaussian beam. This platform permits to engineer optical traps at the beam axis with a response governed by nonconservative and giant recoil forces coming from the directional excitation of ultra-confined surface plasmons during the light scattering process. Compared to optical traps set over bulk metals, the proposed traps are broadband in the sense that can be set with beams oscillating at any frequency within the wide range in which the metasurfa…
Trapping and storing light for arbitrary time lengths in open cavities is a major goal of nanophotonics, with potential applications ranging from energy harvesting to optical information processing. Unfortunately, however, the resonance lifetime of conventional open resonators remains finite even in the limit of vanishing material absorption, as a result of radiation loss. In this context, bound states in the continuum (BiCs) have provided a unique way to achieve unbounded resonance lifetimes despite the presence of compatible radiation channels. However, physical constraints such as reciproci…
Multi-mode fiber enabled multi-wavelength optical trapping and dynamic manipulation
Nanophotonics Research Centre, Institute of Microscale Optoelectronics & State Key Laboratory of Radio Frequency Heterogeneous Integration（纳米光子学研究中心，微纳光电子研究所与射频异质集成国家重点实验室）
Silicon photodetectors operating at near-infrared wavelengths with high-speed and high sensitivity are becoming critical for emerging applications, such as Light Detection and Ranging Systems (LIDAR), quantum communications, and medical imaging. However, such photodetectors present a bandwidth-absorption trade-off at those wavelengths that have limited their implementation. Photon trapping structures address this trade-off by enhancing the light-matter interactions, but maximizing their performance remains a challenge due to a multitude of factors influencing their design and fabrication. In t…
The classical 'time-bandwidth' limit for linear time-invariant (LTI) devices asserts that it is impossible to store broadband waves (large Δω's) for long times (large Δt's). For standing waves, i.e., vibrations, in particular, this limit takes on a simple form, Δt Δω = 1, where Δω is the bandwidth over which localization occurs, and Δt is the storage time. It remains a fundamental challenge in classical wave physics and vibration engineering to try to find ways to overcome this limit, not least because that would allow for storing broadband waves for long times, or achieve broadband resonance …
