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Register a new userExceptional points of degeneracy and $cal{PT}$-symmetry in photonic coupled chains of scatterers
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Mohamed Othman M. Othman
Publication date
2016
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
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We demonstrate the existence of exceptional points of degeneracy (EPD) of periodic eigenstates in non-Hermitian coupled chains of dipolar scatterers. Guided modes supported by these structures can exhibit an EPD in their dispersion diagram at which two or more Bloch eigenstates coalesce, in both their eigenvectors and eigenvalues. We show a second-order modal EPD associated with the parity-time ($cal{PT}$) symmetry condition, at which each particle pair in the double chain exhibits balanced gain and loss. Furthermore, we also demonstrate a fourth-order EPD occurring at the band edge. Such degeneracy condition was previously referred to as a degenerate band edge in lossless anisotropic photonic crystals. Here, we rigorously show it under the occurrence of gain and loss balance for a discrete guiding system. We identify a more general regime of gain and loss balance showing that $cal{PT}$-symmetry is not necessary to realize EPDs. Furthermore, we investigate the degree of detuning of the EPD when the geometrical symmetry or balanced condition is broken. These findings open unprecedented avenues toward superior light localization and transport with application to high-Q resonators utilized in sensors, filters, low-threshold switching and lasing.
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Over the past decade, parity-time ($mathcal{PT}$)-symmetric Hamiltonians have been experimentally realized in classical, optical settings with balanced gain and loss, or in quantum systems with localized loss. In both realizations, the $mathcal{PT}$-symmetry breaking transition occurs at the exceptional point of the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian, where its eigenvalues and the corresponding eigenvectors both coincide. Here, we show that in lossy systems, the $mathcal{PT}$ transition is a phenomenon that broadly occurs without an attendant exceptional point, and is driven by the potential asymmetry between the neutral and the lossy regions. With experimentally realizable quantum models in mind, we investigate dimer and trimer waveguide configurations with one lossy waveguide. We validate the tight-binding model results by using the beam propagation method analysis. Our results pave a robust way toward studying the interplay between passive $mathcal{PT}$ transitions and quantum effects in dissipative photonic configurations.
In this work we first examine transverse and longitudinal fluxes in a $cal PT$-symmetric photonic dimer using a coupled-mode theory. Several surprising understandings are obtained from this perspective: The longitudinal flux shows that the $cal PT$ transition in a dimer can be regarded as a classical effect, despite its analogy to $cal PT$-symmetric quantum mechanics. The longitudinal flux also indicates that the so-called giant amplification in the $cal PT$-symmetric phase is a sub-exponential behavior and does not outperform a single gain waveguide. The transverse flux, on the other hand, reveals that the apparent power oscillations between the gain and loss waveguides in the $cal PT$-symmetric phase can be deceiving in certain cases, where the transverse power transfer is in fact unidirectional. We also show that this power transfer cannot be arbitrarily fast even when the exceptional point is approached. Finally, we go beyond the coupled-mode theory by using the paraxial wave equation and also extend our discussions to a $cal PT$ diamond and a one-dimensional periodic lattice.
We present a transmission line theory of exceptional points of degeneracy (EPD) in coupled-mode guiding structures, i.e., a theory that illustrates the characteristics of coupled electromagnetic modes under a special dispersion degeneracy condition, yet unexplored in the contest of gain and loss. We demonstrate the concept of Parity-Time ($cal{PT}$)-symmetry in coupled uniform waveguides with balanced and symmetric gain and loss and how this condition is associated with a second order EPD. We show that by introducing gain into naturally lossy structures provides for the conditions whereby exceptional points of non-Hermitian degeneracies can be manifested, such as in $cal{PT}$- symmetric structures. Furthermore, we also demonstrate that $cal{PT}$- symmetry, despite being the method often suggested for obtaining non-Hermitian degeneracies at optical frequencies, is not a necessary condition and indeed we show that EPD can be obtained with broken topological symmetry in uniform TLs. Operating near such special degeneracy conditions leads to potential performance enhancement in a variety of microwave and optical resonators, and devices such as distributed oscillators, including lasers, amplifiers, radiating arrays, pulse compressors, and Qswitching sensors.
We present a novel approach and a theoretical framework for generating high order exceptional points of degeneracy (EPD) in photonic structures based on periodic coupled resonators optical waveguides (CROWs). Such EPDs involve the coalescence of Floquet-Bloch eigenwaves in CROWs, without the presence of gain and loss, which is in contrast to the requirement of Parity-Time (PT) symmetry to develop exceptional points based on gain and loss balance. The EPDs arise here by introducing symmetry breaking in a conventional chain of coupled resonators through coupling the chain of resonators to an adjacent uniform optical waveguide, which leads to unique modal characteristics that cannot be realized in conventional CROWs. Such remarkable characteristics include high quality factors (Q-factor) and strong field enhancement, even without any mirrors at the two ends of a cavity. We show for the first time the capability of CROWs to exhibit EPDs of various order; including the degenerate band edge (DBE) and the stationary inflection point (SIP). The proposed CROW of finite length shows enhanced quality factor when operating near the DBE, and the Q-factor exhibits an anomalous scaling with the CROWs length. We develop the theory of EPDs in such unconventional CROW using coupled-wave equations, and we derive an analytical expression for the dispersion relation. The proposed unconventional CROW concepts have various potential applications including Q-switching, nonlinear devices, lasers, and extremely sensitive sensors.
Controlling gain and loss of coupled optical cavities can induce non-Hermitian degeneracies of eigenstates, called exceptional points (EPs). Various unconventional phenomena around EPs have been reported, and expected to incorporate extra functionalities into photonic devices. The eigenmode exactly under the EP degeneracy is also predicted to exhibit enhanced radiation. However, such responses have yet to be observed in on-chip lasers, because of both the limited controllability of their gain and loss and the lifting of degeneracy by pump-induced cavity detuning. Here, we report the first non-Hermitian nanophotonic platform based on two electrically pumped photonic crystal lasers and its spontaneous emission at an EP degeneracy. Systematically tuned and independent current injection to our wavelength-scale active heterostructure cavities enables us to demonstrate the clear EP phase transition of their spontaneous emission, accompanied with the spectral coalescence of coupled modes and reversed pump dependence of the intensity. Furthermore, we find experimentally and confirm theoretically the peculiar squared Lorentzian emission spectrum very near the exact EP, which indicates the four-fold enhancement of the photonic local density of states induced purely by the degeneracy. Our results open a new pathway to engineer the light-matter interaction by non-Hermiticity and explore larger reconfigurable laser arrays for further non-Hermitian features and physics.
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