Multimode Single-Ring Photonic Molecule

Area of Science:

• Photonics
• Quantum Optics
• Integrated Photonics

Background:

• Photonic molecules mimic atomic interactions, enabling cavity eigenstate manipulation.
• Existing evanescent coupling methods for multiple cavities lack scalability and precise control for complex systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel method for creating photonic molecules using a single multimode optical ring resonator.
• To overcome the limitations of traditional coupling methods and enable flexible engineering of intermode interactions.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing multiple waveguide transverse modes within a single optical ring resonator.
• Implementing transmissive mode converters for arbitrary intermode coupling control.
• Precisely tuning resonance splitting and intrinsic losses.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated arbitrary intermode coupling, enabling flexible photonic molecule design.
• Achieved selective generation of bright-dark mode pairs.
• Enabled exploration of phenomena like exceptional points in a multimode system.

Conclusions:

• The multimode photonic molecule approach offers enhanced flexibility and scalability compared to traditional methods.
• This design opens new avenues for integrated photonic circuits, optical processing, and fundamental research in non-Hermitian and nonlinear photonics.