Chaotically spiking attractors in suspended mirror optical cavities

TL;DR

This paper experimentally investigates a high-finesse suspended mirror cavity where radiation pressure and photothermal effects interact, leading to complex chaotic attractors and optical spikes, supported by a detailed physical model.

Contribution

It reveals new dynamical regimes caused by the interplay of radiation pressure and photothermal effects, including chaotic attractors and optical spikes, in a suspended mirror cavity.

Findings

Observation of chaotic attractors triggered by Hopf instability

Reproduction of dynamics with a detailed physical model

Identification of regimes with erratic optical spikes

Abstract

A high-finesse suspended mirror Fabry-Perot cavity is experimentally studied in a regime where radiation pressure and photothermal effect are both relevant. The competition between these phenomena, operating at different time scales, produces unobserved dynamical scenarios where an initial Hopf instability is followed by the birth of small-amplitude chaotic attractors which erratically but deterministically trigger optical spikes. The observed dynamical regimes are well reproduced by a detailed physical model of the system.