Thermo-optical spiking and mixed-mode oscillations in injected Kerr microcavities

TL;DR

This paper explores the complex nonlinear dynamics of Kerr microcavities influenced by thermal effects and feedback, revealing new behaviors like chaos and oscillations, with implications for cavity control and stabilization.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive model combining thermal effects and feedback in Kerr microcavities, uncovering novel dynamical regimes and stabilization mechanisms.

Findings

Identification of thermo-optical pulses and mixed-mode oscillations.

Delay feedback influences excitability and stabilizes localized states.

Thermal effects and feedback interplay to produce chaotic spiking.

Abstract

We investigate the nonlinear dynamics of vertically emitting Kerr microcavities under detuned optical injection, considering the impact of slow thermal effects. Our model integrates thermal detuning caused by refractive index shifts due to heating. Through numerical and analytical approaches, we uncover a rich spectrum of dynamical behaviors, including excitable thermo-optical pulses, mixed-mode oscillations, and chaotic spiking, governed by a higher-dimensional canard scenario. Introducing a long external feedback loop with time delays comparable to the microcavity photon lifetime but shorter than thermal relaxation timescales, reveals how delay affects excitability and stabilizes temporal localized states. Our findings extend the understanding of excitable systems, demonstrating how thermal and feedback mechanisms interplay to shape nonlinear optical dynamics. Further, our approach paves the way for the study of cavity stabilization and cavity cooling using an additional control beam.