Development of weak coherent 0π optical pulses in a ring resonator with a dynamic recurrent loop

Abstract

We investigated the development of weak coherent 0π optical pulses in a ring resonator with a dynamic recurrent loop. Using this recurrent system, we measured transmitted pulse profiles as a function of the recurrence time, that is, the number of times pulses passed through the resonator. As the number increased, the transmitted pulse profiles developed oscillating structures characteristic of weak coherent 0π optical pulses. The pulse area decayed exponentially to 0π, independent of the pulse duration and pulse shape, thus obeying the pulse area theorem described by McCall and Hahn in the linear regime. The fact that the pulse area decays exponentially does not necessarily imply that the pulses lose their energy. Successful observation of the coherent 0π pulses demonstrated the potential application of the system to a wide variety of experiments in which pulse states are examined after passing through resonators of exactly the same resonance frequency, with an ultrahigh Q-value, an arbitrary number of times.