Stable tuning of photorefractive micro-cavities using an auxiliary laser

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method to stabilize photorefractive effects in lithium niobate microcavities using an auxiliary laser, supported by numerical modeling to enhance cavity performance in nonlinear optics applications.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel technique employing an auxiliary laser to control photorefraction, improving cavity stability in lithium niobate microcavities.

Findings

Effective cavity stabilization achieved with auxiliary laser.

Numerical model accurately predicts photorefractive behavior.

Method reduces nonlinear effects in microcavities.

Abstract

Cavity nonlinear optics enables intriguing physical phenomena to occur at micro- or nano-scales with modest input powers. While this enhances capabilities in applications such as comb generation, frequency conversion and quantum optics, undesired nonlinear effects including photorefraction and thermal bistability are exacerbated. In this letter, we propose and demonstrate a highly effective method of achieving cavity stabilization using an auxiliary laser for controlling photorefraction in a z-cut periodically poled lithium niobate (LN) microcavity system. Our numerical study accurately models the photorefractive effect under high input powers, guiding future analyses and development of LN microcavity systems.