CAREER: Novel Photonic Structures Using Non-Hermitian Exceptional Points

摘要标题：利用增益和损耗实现激光和传感的新型光子结构技术描述：拟议的研究旨在通过利用具有增益和损耗的系统中出现的例外点的非传统性质，在光学中引入一种新的范例。这些特征可以用来构建具有定制属性和功能的结构--这在以前被认为是无法实现的。这种发展的应用范围从片上通信系统到高功率半导体激光器，再到传感。这项研究将使我们更好地理解如何在光泵和电泵配置中独立地操纵和利用放大和衰减，并将阐明光学中特殊点的作用和基本原理。此外，这项拟议的工作在数学、量子物理和工程学之间架起了一座桥梁，同时促进了光学中例外点的概念。这些想法可能会带来新的设计工具，可以用来解决激光物理学中一些长期存在的问题。如果成功，这项努力可能会改变芯片规模的集成光子学和高功率半导体激光技术。由于拟议活动的跨学科性质，参与该项目的学生将有机会通过体验科学努力中涉及的所有步骤来为未来的广泛职业做准备，从构思一个可能源于数学的想法开始，到实验演示预期的行为，最后建立一个原型设备。通过演讲、出版物和课堂/实验室教学，在本项目过程中获得的知识将向更广泛的受众传播。该项目不仅将为毕业生提供研究机会，还将为本科生和K-12学生提供研究机会。最后，来自少数群体和代表性不足群体的学生将主动融入研究环境。非技术描述：建议的工作将利用非厄米例外点(EP)的物理和特性，以便在设计补充和/或改进现有集成光子电路的新型光子器件时开发替代策略。在光子系统中，通过合理地在折射率整形和增益-损耗对比度之间的相互作用，可以有利地引入例外点。沿着这些思路，与芯片级光子组件和网络相关的两个努力将被继续进行：(I)展示具有更高亮度和/或光谱纯度的新型单模集成激光器，(Ii)通过利用高阶例外点的固有特征来增强活跃的光子分子的传感特性。使用InP技术作为一个通用平台来探索光学中例外点的物理和应用的前景也将被研究。

Abstract Title: Novel Photonic Structures for Lasers and Sensing by Using Gain and Loss Technical Description: The proposed research aims to introduce a new paradigm in optics by utilizing the unconventional properties of exceptional points arising in systems with gain and loss. These features can be employed to build structures with customized properties and functionalities- previously thought to be unattainable. The applications of such developments range from on-chip communication systems, to high power semiconductor lasers, to sensing. This research will result in a better understanding of how amplification and attenuation can be independently manipulated and harnessed in both optically and electrically pumped arrangement and will shed light on the role and the fundamentals of exceptional points in optics. In addition, the proposed work provides a bridge between mathematics, quantum physics, and engineering while promoting the concept of exceptional points in optics. These ideas could lead to new design tools that can be deployed to address some of the long-standing problems in laser physics. If successful, this effort could potentially transform chip-scale integrated photonics and high power semiconductor laser technologies. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the proposed activity, the students engaged in this project will have the opportunity to prepare for a broad range of future careers by experiencing all the steps involved in a scientific endeavor, starting from conceiving an idea that perhaps originates from mathematics, to experimentally demonstrating the anticipated behavior, and finally building a prototype device. By means of presentations, publications, and classroom/laboratory teaching, the knowledge acquired during the course of this project will be disseminated to a broader audience. This program will provide research opportunities not only to graduate, but also to undergraduate, and K-12 students. Finally, students from minority and under-represented groups will be proactively integrated into the research environment. Non-Technical Description: The proposed effort will make use of the physics and peculiarities of non-Hermitian exceptional points (EPs) in order to develop alternative strategies in designing novel photonic devices that complement and/or improve existing integrated photonic circuits. In a photonic system, exceptional points can be advantageously introduced through a judicious interplay between refractive index shaping and gain-loss contrast. Along these lines, two endeavors associated with chip-scale photonic components and networks will be pursued: (i) demonstrating a new class of single mode integrated lasers with increased brightness and/or spectral purity, (ii) enhancing the sensing characteristics of active photonic molecules by exploiting the inherent features of higher-order exceptional points. The prospect of using InP technologies as a versatile platform to explore the physics and applications of exceptional points in optics will also be investigated.