Mechanisms of spatiotemporal mode-locking
Mechanisms of spatiotemporal mode-locking
复制标题
DOI：
10.1038/s41567-020-0784-1
复制
发表时间：
2020-02-10
期刊：
影响因子：
19.6
通讯作者：
Wise, Frank W.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Wright, Logan G.;Sidorenko, Pavel;Wise, Frank W.
激光器的锁模可以被理解为自组织，而时空锁模的三维情形可以用吸引子剖分理论来描述，这有助于对这种复杂情形的直观理解，锁模是一个光学谐振腔中不同模式通过非线性相互作用建立稳定同步的过程。这种自组织是光源的基础，使许多现代科学应用成为可能，例如超快和高场光学和频率梳。尽管如此，锁模几乎完全是指光在一维时间内的自组织。在这里，我们提出了一种理论方法吸引子解剖理解三维时空锁模。关键的想法是找到一个特定的，最小的简化模型为每一个不同类型的三维脉冲，从而确定重要的腔内效应负责其形成和稳定性。对结果的直觉来自最小损耗原理，即激光器努力找到最小化损耗（最大化增益提取）的腔内光的配置的想法。通过这种方法，我们确定和解释几种不同形式的时空锁模。相干激光的这些相位在一维中没有类似物，并且通过三维场的测量得到支持，这揭示了包括多于10（7）个腔模式的时空锁模状态。我们的研究结果应该有助于发现和理解新的更高维形式的相干光，这反过来又可能使新的应用。
Mode-locking of lasers can be understood as self-organization, and the three-dimensional case of spatiotemporal mode-locking can described using attractor dissection theory, which helps develop an intuition for this complex case.Mode-locking is a process in which different modes of an optical resonator establish stable synchronization through non-linear interactions. This self-organization underlies light sources that enable many modern scientific applications, such as ultrafast and high-field optics and frequency combs. Despite this, mode-locking has almost exclusively referred to the self-organization of light in a single dimension-time. Here we present a theoretical approach-attractor dissection-to understand three-dimensional spatiotemporal mode-locking. The key idea is to find a specific, minimal reduced model for each distinct type of three-dimensional pulse, and thus identify the important intracavity effects responsible for its formation and stability. An intuition for the results follows from the minimum loss principle, the idea that a laser strives to find the configuration of intracavity light that minimizes loss (maximizes gain extraction). Through this approach, we identify and explain several distinct forms of spatiotemporal mode-locking. These phases of coherent laser light have no analogues in one dimension and are supported by measurements of the three-dimensional field, which reveals spatiotemporal mode-locked states that comprise more than 10(7) cavity modes. Our results should facilitate the discovery and understanding of new higher-dimensional forms of coherent light which, in turn, may enable new applications.