All-Optical control of linear and nonlinear energy transfer via Zeno effect

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates an all-optical method to control energy transfer in microresonators by leveraging the Zeno effect to suppress nonlinear processes, enabling precise manipulation of photon interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to control second- and third-order nonlinear processes through the Zeno effect, which was not previously reported in this context.

Findings

Achieved a suppression ratio of 34.5 in stimulated four-wave mixing.

Controlled nonlinear energy transfer via the Zeno effect in microresonators.

Demonstrated interplay between $ ext{chi}^{(2)}$ and $ ext{chi}^{(3)}$ nonlinearities.

Abstract

Microresonator-based nonlinear processes are fundamental to applications including microcomb generation, parametric frequency conversion, and harmonics generation. While nonlinear processes involving either second- ($\chi^{(2)}$) or third- $\chi^{(3)}$) order nonlinearity have been extensively studied, the interaction between these two basic nonlinear processes has seldom been reported. In this letter, we demonstrate a coherent interplay between second- and third- order nonlinear processes. The parametric ($\chi^{(2)})$ coupling to a lossy ancillary mode shortens the lifetime of the target photonic mode and suppresses its density of states, preventing the photon emissions into the target photonic mode via Zeno effect. Such effect is then used to control the stimulated four-wave mixing process and realize a suppression ratio of $34.5$.