Use of Transmission and Reflection Complex Time Delays to Reveal Scattering Matrix Poles and Zeros: Example of the Ring Graph

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how complex time delays in transmission and reflection can be used to identify scattering matrix poles and zeros, providing insights into resonances in quantum graphs and practical resonator devices.

Contribution

It introduces the first comprehensive use of reflection time difference and complex time delay analysis to experimentally identify scattering matrix poles and zeros.

Findings

Identifies poles and zeros of the scattering matrix through time delay measurements.

Provides a unified understanding of various resonances based on pole-zero distribution.

Applies the method to practical devices like photonic and microwave ring resonators.

Abstract

We identify the poles and zeros of the scattering matrix of a simple quantum graph by means of systematic measurement and analysis of Wigner, transmission, and reflection complex time delays. We examine the ring graph because it displays both shape and Feshbach resonances, the latter of which arises from an embedded eigenstate on the real frequency axis. Our analysis provides a unified understanding of the so-called shape, Feshbach, electromagnetically-induced transparency, and Fano resonances, on the basis of the distribution of poles and zeros of the scattering matrix in the complex frequency plane. It also provides a first-principles understanding of sharp resonant scattering features, and associated large time delay, in a variety of practical devices, including photonic microring resonators, microwave ring resonators, and mesoscopic ring-shaped conductor devices. Our analysis is the first use of reflection time difference, as well as the first comprehensive use of complex time delay, to analyze experimental scattering data.