Equilibrium bifurcations and chaotic transitions in coupled microlaser lattices

Analytic and simulation studies for the steady-state equilibria and bifurcations of coupled microlaser arrays are described. Lateral cavity interactions affect the gain in each cavity, leading to active photonic lattice behavior, equivalent to a nonlinear coupled oscillator lattice. The coupled-cavity rate equations are employed to follow the coherent photon and carrier population in each lattice site. Fixed-point-type steady states, of constant lattice phase shift, result for low coupling strengths; the radiation envelope for these states conforms with a periodic Bloch state over the array. Bifurcations to limit cycles of increasing complexity occur at higher coupling via period doubling sequences. The associated spatial patterns of photon and carrier lattice distribution resemble photonic convection cells. Limit cycles of different periods, emanating mathematically from different original fixed points, coexist at high strengths, each one accessible from different initial conditions. The multiplicity of possible limit cycles in systems with many degrees of freedom (number of lattice sites) combined with changes in their accessibility from initial conditions offers new insights to chaotic transitions, compared to low dimensionality paradigms.     

Conservation of electromagnetic momentum and radiation forces exerted on left-handed material interfaces

It is shown that the boundary conditions at left-handed material interfaces cause reversal in the propagation direction of the parallel-to-the-surface electromagnetic energy and momentum fluxes. First-principle examination excludes the possibility of induced surface wave excitation as a way of providing radiation momentum conservation. Thus the imparted net change in electromagnetic momentum should cause a recoil force parallel to the surface, which is unique to left-handed interfaces. The shear force exerted on a left-handed material interface is computed. The magnitude of this force is found detectable by experiments.     

Stable single-mode vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser with a photoresistive aperture

It is numerically demonstrated that on-axis current channeling through the use of a photoactive layer or layers in vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser cavities counteracts hole burning and allows single-mode operation at high currents. The photoactive layers act as a variable-resistivity screen whose radial aperture is controlled by the light itself. Absorption of a small fraction of the light intensity suffices for significant on-axis current peaking with minimum efficiency loss and optical mode distortion.     

High power single mode VCSEL operation with photo-active current channeling

Proposed on-axis current channeling through the use of photoactive layer(s) in vertical-cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) cavities counteracts hole burning and allows single mode operation at high currents. The photoactive layers act as variable resistivity screens whose radial 'aperture' is controlled by the light itself, providing an efficient feedback for mode control. Absorption of a small fraction of the light intensity suffices for significant on-axis current peaking with minimum efficiency loss and optical mode distortion. Fabrication is implemented during the molecular beam epitaxy phase without wafer post-processing, as for oxide apertures.     

Nonlinear gain computation for the sheet beam crossed-fieldamplifier

When the RF amplitude in a crossed field device is much smaller than the external DC voltage, the energy exchange between an electron and the wave is given by the change in the potential energy of the electron guiding center. The shift of the beam center of charge follows the space bunching into “spokes” caused by the RF-induced drift. A nonlinear estimate for the gain is derived and applied to the linear format crossed-field amplifier fed by a continuous sheet beam. The adiabatic approximation for the guiding center trajectories in the low gain regime determines the fraction of trapped/streaming particles and the energy exchange for each group. The radiation gain equals the change in the electron potential energy resulting from the shift in the beam center of charge across the anode-cathode voltage. The drift kinetic energy is approximately conserved, opposed to other microwave devices converting kinetic energy into radiation. The theory accounts for the symmetry of the response curve relative to the frequency detuning ω-ω₀, and the flat top near resonance. The analytic predictions agree with the experimental measurements of the gain versus frequency response