Abstract

Optical resonators are structures that utilize wave interference and feedback to confine light in all three dimensions. Depending on the feedback mechanism, resonators can support either standing- or traveling-wave modes. Over the years, the distinction between these two different types of modes has become so prevalent that nowadays it is one of the main characteristics for classifying optical resonators. Here, we show that an intermediate link between these two rather different groups exists. In particular, we introduce a new class of photonic resonators that supports a hybrid optical mode, i.e. at one location along the resonator the electromagnetic fields associated with the mode feature a purely standing-wave pattern, while at a different location, the fields of the same mode represent a pure traveling wave. The proposed concept is general and can be implemented using chip-scale photonics as well as free-space optics. Moreover, it can be extended to other wave phenomena such as microwaves and acoustics.

Details

Title
The missing link between standing- and traveling-wave resonators
Author
Zhong, Qi 1 ; Zhao, Haoqi 2 ; Liang, Feng 3 ; Busch, Kurt 4 ; Özdemir, Şahin K 5 ; El-Ganainy, Ramy 6 

 Department of Physics, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USA 
 Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA 
 Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA 
 Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institut für Physik, AG Theoretische Optik & Photonik, D-12489 Berlin, Germany; Max-Born-Institut, Max-Born-Straße 2A, 12489 Berlin, Germany 
 Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA 
 Department of Physics, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USA; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USA 
Pages
4427-4437
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
ISSN
21928606
e-ISSN
21928614
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2711254603
Copyright
© 2022. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.