Time Crystals in Actively Mode-locked Lasers
arXiv:2509.09230 · doi:10.1103/k1cn-ngy6
Abstract
We report the first experimental observation of discrete time-crystal phases and crystallites in an actively mode-locked semiconductor laser. By tuning either the bias current or the modulation frequency, the system undergoes a spontaneous symmetry-breaking transition from the harmonically mode-locked state towards robust, highly coherent time-crystal states that persist indefinitely. Two equivalent time-crystal configurations, shifted by one driving period, can coexist as domains separated by sharp, long-lived boundaries analogous to domain walls. The phenomenon is quantitatively reproduced by a time-delayed model adapted to the large gain and losses of semiconductor systems. Our findings demonstrate that mode-locked semiconductor lasers offer a readily accessible platform to explore and control non-equilibrium phases of light, enabling practical implementations of time-crystal physics in photonic systems.
7 pages, 7 figures
References in corpus (24)
- Observation of a Discrete Time Crystal
- Observation of discrete time-crystalline order in a disordered dipolar many-body system
- Floquet Time Crystals
- On the phase structure of driven quantum systems
- Quantum Time Crystals
- Time crystals: a review
- Absence of Quantum Time Crystals
- Observation of Time-Crystalline Eigenstate Order on a Quantum Processor
- Modeling spontaneous breaking of time-translation symmetry
- Non-stationary coherent quantum many-body dynamics through dissipation
- Impossibility of Spontaneously Rotating Time-Crystals: A No-Go Theorem
- Observation of a dissipative time crystal
- Discrete Time-Crystalline Order in Cavity and Circuit QED Systems
- Observation of time quasicrystal and its transition to superfluid time crystal
- Observation of a continuous time crystal
- Time crystals in periodically driven systems
- Photonic Metamaterial Analogue of a Continuous Time Crystal
- AC Josephson effect between two superfluid time crystals
- From a continuous to a discrete time crystal in a dissipative atom-cavity system
- Electrical Addressing and Temporal Tweezing of Localized Pulses in Passively Mode-Locked Semiconductor Lasers
- Continuous time crystal in an electron-nuclear spin system: stability and melting of periodic auto-oscillations
- Arrest of Domain Coarsening via Antiperiodic Regimes in Delay Systems
- Solid-state continuous time crystal with a built-in clock
- Pulse instabilities in harmonic active mode-locking: a time-delayed approach