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The photo-Kerr effect: a new optical nonlinearity and its use for cavity self-stabilization

Joanna A. Zielińska, Morgan W. Mitchell

Published Jul 28, 2017• 1 citation
OpenAlex

Abstract

We describe a previously unreported optical nonlinearity and demonstrate its application in self-stabilization of an cavity-resonated optical frequency converter. The new effect appears as an optical Kerr nonlinearity whose strength reflects the intra-cavity pump power over long time-scales, even though the Kerr effect it produces is fast. We find good agreement between a simple model of the new nonlinearity and observed nonlinear behavior. We show that this effect induces self-stabilization of the frequency converter, which remains in resonance despite pump frequency changes of multiple free spectral ranges.

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We describe a previously unreported optical nonlinearity and demonstrate its application in self-stabilization of an cavity-resonated optical frequency converter. The new effect appears as an optical Kerr nonlinearity whose strength reflects the intra-cavity pump power over long time-scales, even though the Kerr effect it produces is fast. We find good agreement between a simple model of the new nonlinearity and observed nonlinear behavior. We show that this effect induces self-stabilization of the frequency converter, which remains in resonance despite pump frequency changes of multiple free spectral ranges.
We demonstrate a nonlinear optical resonator that tunes itself onto resonance with an input beam. In a monolithic Fabry-Perot cavity implemented in rubidium-doped periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate, an intensity-dependent refractive index produces line pulling by multiple free-spectral ranges (FSRs). In this condition, the cavity passively maintains optical resonance in the face of FSR-scale excursions of the drive laser frequency: when one resonant operating point becomes unstable, the resonator rapidly transitions to another resonant operating point. We demonstrate stable second-harmonic generation with no active feedback to the laser or cavity. The self-tuning effect appears to be supported by a very strong, previously unreported optical nonlinearity.
We theoretically study the effect of Kerr effect on the second-order nonlinearity induced transparency in a double-resonant optical cavity system. We show that in the presence of the Kerr effect, as the strength of the Kerr effect increases, the absorption curve exhibits an asymmetric-symmetric-asymmetric transition, and the zero absorption point shifts with the increase of the Kerr effect. Furthermore, by changing the strength of the Kerr effect, we can control the width of the transparent window, and the position of the zero-absorption point and meanwhile change the left and right width of the absorption peak. The asymmetry absorption curve can be employed to improve the quality factor of the cavity when the frequency detuning is tuned to be around the right peak. The simple dependence of the zero-absorption point on the strength of Kerr effect suggests that the strength of Kerr effect can be measured by measuring the position of the zero-absorption point in a possible application.
We propose a new method to produce self- and cross-Kerr photonic nonlinearities, using light-induced Stark shifts due to the interaction of a cavity mode with atoms. The proposed experimental set-up is simpler than in previous approaches, while the strength of the nonlinearity obtained with a single atom is the same as in the setting based on electromagnetically induced transparency. Furthermore our scheme can be applied to engineer effective photonic nonlinear interactions whose strength increases with the number of atoms coupled to the cavity mode, leading to photon–photon interactions several orders of magnitude larger than previously considered possible.
The thermal-induced nonlinear effect in a micro-cavity with small mode volume is extremely important for studying the optical cavity’s physical properties. In this work, we discuss the Kerr effect acting on the photothermally induced transparency (PTIT) and group delays in a photothermal cavity. We analyze the optical bistability with the thermal and Kerr nonlinear effects in the photothermal system, which directly impacts the dynamical stability and the threshold for bistability, eventually leading to an increase in the number of photons in the steady state. Meanwhile, the Kerr nonlinear effect greatly modifies the Fano-like PTIT in the system with photothermal effect, and the window is effectively compensated to symmetrical PTIT by Kerr-induced cavity frequency redshift. A group delay and advance are observed in the phase of the transmitted probe field, which enables light to be stored in the milliseconds range. The results demonstrate the possibility of enhancing or steering the performance of PTIT and group delay in nonlinear optical cavities, and it will find some applications in optical sensing and communications.
Resonance-frequency fluctuations can limit the sensitivity and stability of superconducting microwave cavities used for qubit readout, optomechanical displacement sensing, and magnetic flux detection. Here, we demonstrate the suppression of resonance-frequency fluctuations by locking a noisy nonlinear superconducting microwave cavity to a strong pump tone. The Kerr nonlinearity of this system, whereby the resonance frequency depends on the intracavity field amplitude, gives rise to an intrinsic feedback mechanism that enables passive stabilization without active external feedback. Using two-tone spectroscopy, we experimentally characterize the intrinsic nonlinear feedback mechanism and investigate its temporal stability through Allan deviation analysis. The frequency fluctuations of the locked cavity mode are reduced by nearly two orders of magnitude, reaching the 1/f1/f1/f noise floor, without continuous frequency tracking or active control. Kerr locking provides a general approach for self-stabilizing nonlinear microwave resonators by suppressing low-frequency cavity noise while preserving sensitivity to signals outside the locking bandwidth. This approach may benefit a broad range of systems, including SQUID-based resonators, optomechanical devices, and parametric amplifiers.