Laser²: A two-domain photon-phonon laser

Area of Science:

• Optics
• Acoustics
• Materials Science

Background:

• The laser, a historically significant invention, has seen its principles extended to other physical domains like phonon and atom lasers.
• Existing lasers operate within a single physical domain, despite energy transfer between domains being common.

Purpose of the Study:

• To experimentally demonstrate simultaneous lasing in two distinct physical domains (photons and phonons).
• To explore the potential of a novel two-domain laser for future technological applications.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing a two-mode silica fiber ring cavity.
• Employing forward intermodal stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS).
• Leveraging long-lived flexural acoustic waves to mediate the process.

Main Results:

• Successful experimental demonstration of simultaneous photon and phonon lasing.
• The two-domain laser operates within a single fiber ring cavity.

Conclusions:

• This work presents the first experimental realization of a simultaneous two-domain laser.
• The demonstrated technology may enable advancements in optical/acoustic tweezers, optomechanical sensing, microwave generation, and quantum information processing.
• This paves the way for the development of other multidomain lasers and associated applications.