Optical decay from a Fabry–Perot cavity faster than the decay time

Abstract

The dynamical response of an optical Fabry–Perot cavity is investigated experimentally. We observe oscillations in the transmitted and the reflected light intensity if the frequency of the incoupled light field is rapidly changed. In addition, the decay of a cavity-stored light field is accelerated if the phase and the intensity of the incoupled light are switched in an appropriate way. The theoretical model by M. J. Lawrence [J. Opt. Soc. Am. B16, 523 (1999)] agrees with our observations.