Complex active optical networks as a new laser concept

Abstract

Complex optical networks containing one or more gain sections are investigated and the evidence of lasing action is reported; the emission spectrum reflects the topological disorder induced by the connections. A theoretical description well compares with the measurements, mapping the networks to directed graphs and showing the analogies with the problem of quantum chaos on graphs. We show that the interplay of chaotic diffusion and amplification leads to an emission statistics with characteristic heavy-tails: for different topologies, an unprecedented experimental demonstration of Levy statistics expected for random lasers is here provided for a continuous-wave pumped system. This result is also supported by a Monte-Carlo simulation based on ray random walk on the graph.

To be published in Phys. Rev. Lett

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Cited by in corpus (17)

• Light in correlated disordered media
• Optical Phase Transitions in Photonic Networks: A Spin System Formulation
• Heterogeneous Random Laser with Switching Activity Visualized by Replica Symmetry Breaking Maps
• Sensitivity and spectral control of network lasers
• The LANER: optical networks as complex lasers
• Statistical outliers in random laser emission
• Narrow peaks of full transmission in simple quantum graphs
• Simple quantum graphs proposal for quantum devices
• A Self-Consistent Quantum Field Theory for Random Lasing
• Controlling lasing around Exceptional Points in Coupled Nanolasers
• Bound states in the continuum induced via local symmetries in complex structures
• Phase-locking dynamics of heterogeneous oscillator arrays
• Modeling active optical networks
• Chaotic fluctuations in graphs with amplification
• Spaceless description of active optical media
• Electromagnetic Scattering by Networks of High-Permittivity Thin Wires
• Noise-induced peak intensity fluctuations in class B laser systems