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Published May 3, 2022 | Submitted
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Non-equilibrium phase transitions in coupled nonlinear optical resonators

Abstract

Phase transitions and the associated symmetry breaking are at the heart of many physical phenomena. Coupled systems with multiple interacting degrees of freedom provide a fertile ground for emergent dynamics that is otherwise inaccessible in their solitary counterparts. Here we show that coupled nonlinear optical resonators can undergo self-organization in their spectrum leading to a first-order phase transition. We experimentally demonstrate such a spectral phase transition in time-multiplexed coupled optical parametric oscillators. We switch the nature of mutual coupling from dispersive to dissipative and access distinct spectral regimes of the parametric oscillator dimer. We observe abrupt spectral discontinuity at the first-order transition point which can pave the way for the realization of novel transition-edge sensors. Furthermore, we show how non-equilibrium phase transitions can lead to enhanced sensing, where the applied perturbation is not resolvable by the underlying linear system. Our results can pave the way for sensing using nonlinear driven-dissipative systems leading to performance enhancements without sacrificing sensitivity.

Additional Information

The authors thank Dr. Saman Jahani and Dr. Myoung Gyun Suh for helpful discussions. The authors gratefully acknowledge support from ARO grant no. W911NF-18-1-0285, AFOSR award FA9550-20-1-0040, NSF Grant No. 1846273, and 1918549, and NASA. The authors wish to thank NTT Research for their financial and technical support. AUTHOR CONTRIBUTION. A.R and A.M conceived the idea. A.R. performed the experiments with help from R.N. A.R. developed the theory and performed the numerical simulations. C.L. fabricated the PPLN waveguide used in the experiment with supervision of M.F. A.R. and A.M. wrote the manuscript with input from all authors. A.M. supervised the project. DATA AVAILABILITY. The data that support the plots within this paper and other findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. CODE AVAILABILITY. The codes that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. The authors declare no competing interests.

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Created:
August 20, 2023
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October 24, 2023