Regular-Orbit-Engineered Chaotic Photon Transport in Mixed Phase Space

• Published in: Physical review letters 2019-10, Vol.123 (17), p.1-173903, Article 173903
• Main Authors: Chen, Li-Kun, Gu, Yu-Zhong, Cao, Qi-Tao, Gong, Qihuang, Wiersig, Jan, Xiao, Yun-Feng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Asymmetry; Broadband; Channels; Evolution; Excitation; Microcavities; Nanofibers; Optical coupling; Orbits; Photonics; Photons; Transport; Whispering gallery modes
• ISSN: 0031-9007; 1079-7114
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.173903

The dynamical evolution of light in asymmetric microcavities is of primary interest for broadband optical coupling and enhanced light-matter interaction. Here, we propose and demonstrate that the chaos-assisted photon transport can be engineered by regular periodic orbits in the momentum-position phase space of an asymmetric microcavity. Remarkably, light at different initial states experiences different evolution pathways, following either regular-chaotic channels or pure chaotic channels. Experimentally, we develop a nanofiber technique to accurately control the excitation position of light in the phase space. We find that the coupling to high-Q whispering gallery modes depends strongly on excitation in islands or chaotic sea, showing a good agreement with the theoretical prediction. The engineered chaotic photon transport has potential in light manipulation, broadband photonic devices, and phase-space reconstruction.