Loss-induced control of light propagation direction in passive linear coupled optical cavities

Abstract

Redirecting the flow of light on the basis of the absorption/gain properties of optical systems is of great interest in many research fields, ranging from optical routing to optical cloaking. In this paper we investigate the control of the direction of the light propagation through loss-induced absorption in passive linear coupled optical systems. The considered optical system consists of a mode-splitting resonant cavity formed by coupling a Fabry–Perot (FP) cavity with a ring resonator. The coalescence of the asymmetric resonances, generated through mode-splitting dynamics, is the spectral result of the parity time symmetry breaking at FP resonance wavelengths. For specific values of the FP overall loss, a predominant backward propagation in the FP ring resonator occurs. In fiber optics technology, this device shows an ability to invert the sense of propagation of the light, quantified through the contrast ratio, in the order of 20 dB. This value can be obtained by externally varying the FP loss coefficient for a fixed set of the other physical parameters of the FP ring resonator. Our results can open a new way toward novel high-performance optical modulation and routing schemes.