2011/09/30 by M. Liertzer, Li Ge, A. Cerjan +3 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #physics.optics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.108.173901
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 173901 (2012) · 4.5 pages, 4 figures, final version including additional FDTD data
arxiv created 2012/04/24 · arxiv updated 2012/04/25
We demonstrate that the above-threshold behavior of a laser can be strongly affected by exceptional points which are induced by pumping the laser nonuniformly. At these singularities, the eigenstates of the non-Hermitian operator which describes the lasing modes coalesce. In their vicinity, the laser may turn off even when the overall pump power deposited in the system is increased. Such signatures of a pump- induced exceptional point can be experimentally probed with coupled ridge or microdisk lasers.