Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 23, 2026
12:21
Stimulated Stokes and Antistokes Raman Scattering in Microspherical Whispering Gallery Mode Resonators
Published on: April 4, 2016
Growth dynamics of noise-sustained structures in nonlinear optical resonators.
Optics Express
|April 22, 2009
Summary
Macroscopic noise-sustained structures in nonlinear optics are predicted and observed. These structures arise from convective instability, amplified quantum noise, and can be distinguished by field analysis.
Area of Science:
- Nonlinear Optics
- Quantum Optics
- Pattern Formation
Background:
- Macroscopic noise-sustained structures are theoretically predicted in nonlinear optics.
- Convective instability is a key regime for their observation.
- Advection effects, from pump beam tilting or birefringence, are crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To theoretically predict and numerically observe macroscopic noise-sustained structures.
- To analyze the growth dynamics of noise-sustained and deterministic patterns.
- To investigate the amplification of quantum noise and characterize the structures.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical prediction and numerical simulations.
- Analysis of convective instability regimes.
- Observation of pattern formation dynamics using visual aids (movies).
- Qualitative analysis of near- and far-field patterns.
- Statistical analysis of spectral properties.
Main Results:
- Existence of macroscopic noise-sustained structures confirmed in the convective instability regime.
- Observation of pattern formation dynamics, validating analytical predictions.
- Prediction of significant amplification of quantum noise (several orders of magnitude).
- Demonstration that near- and far-field analysis can distinguish noise-sustained from deterministic structures.
Conclusions:
- Macroscopic noise-sustained structures are a valid phenomenon in nonlinear optics under specific conditions.
- Quantum noise amplification is a significant outcome of these processes.
- Field pattern analysis provides a means for structural characterization and differentiation.
Related Concept Videos
01:14Sound Waves: Resonance
Resonance is produced depending on the boundary conditions imposed on a wave. Resonance can be produced in a string under tension with symmetrical boundary conditions (i.e., has a node at each end). A node is defined as a fixed point where the string does not move. The symmetrical boundary conditions result in some frequencies resonating and producing standing waves, while other frequencies interfere destructively. Sound waves can resonate in a hollow tube, and the frequencies of the sound...
01:07Damped Oscillations
In the real world, oscillations seldom follow true simple harmonic motion. A system that continues its motion indefinitely without losing its amplitude is termed undamped. However, friction of some sort usually dampens the motion, so it fades away or needs more force to continue. For example, a guitar string stops oscillating a few seconds after being plucked. Similarly, one must continually push a swing to keep a child swinging on a playground.
Although friction and other non-conservative...
Although friction and other non-conservative...
01:06Forced Oscillations
When an oscillator is forced with a periodic driving force, the motion may seem chaotic. The motions of such oscillators are known as transients. After the transients die out, the oscillator reaches a steady state, where the motion is periodic, and the displacement is determined.
01:28Standing Waves in a Cavity
A household microwave and lasers are examples of standing electromagnetic waves in a cavity. When two conducting metal plates are placed parallel at the nodal planes, it creates a cavity where standing waves are formed. The cavity between the two planes is analogous to a stretched string held at the points x = 0 and x = L. Here, the distance 'L' between the two planes must be an integer multiple of half of the wavelength. The wavelengths that satisfy this condition are given by:
01:19Concept of Resonance and its Characteristics
If a driven oscillator needs to resonate at a specific frequency, then very light damping is required. An example of light damping includes playing piano strings and many other musical instruments. Conversely, to achieve small-amplitude oscillations as in a car's suspension system, heavy damping is required. Heavy damping reduces the amplitude, but the tradeoff is that the system responds at more frequencies. Speed bumps and gravel roads prove that even a car's suspension system is not immune...
01:20Types of Damping
If the amount of damping in a system is gradually increased, the period and frequency start to become affected because damping opposes, and hence slows, the back and forth motion (the net force is smaller in both directions). If there is a very large amount of damping, the system does not even oscillate; instead, it slowly moves toward equilibrium. In brief, an overdamped system moves slowly towards equilibrium, whereas an underdamped system moves quickly to equilibrium but will oscillate about...