X-ray microcomputed tomography of 3D chaotic microcavities

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the use of X-ray microcomputed tomography to nondestructively image and analyze the 3D structure and chaotic ray dynamics of deformed microcavities, advancing understanding in optical and quantum chaos.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of X-ray micro CT for high-resolution 3D imaging of microcavities, enabling detailed analysis of their chaotic ray trajectories.

Findings

X-ray micro CT provides submicron resolution imaging of 3D microcavities.

Deformation in all three dimensions induces chaotic ray trajectories.

Phase space chaotic dynamics can be accurately reconstructed from micro CT data.

Abstract

Chaotic microcavities play a crucial role in several research areas, including the study of unidirectional microlasers, nonlinear optics, sensing, quantum chaos, and non-Hermitian physics. To date, most theoretical and experimental explorations have focused on two-dimensional (2D) chaotic dielectric microcavities, while there have been minimal studies on three-dimensional (3D) ones since precise geometrical information of a 3D microcavity can be difficult to obtain. Here, we image 3D microcavities with submicron resolution using X-ray microcomputed tomography (micro CT), enabling nondestructive imaging that preserves the sample for subsequent use. By analyzing the ray dynamics of a typical deformed microsphere, we demonstrate that a sufficient deformation along all three dimensions can lead to chaotic ray trajectories over extended time scales. Notably, using the X-ray micro CT reconstruction results, the phase space chaotic ray dynamics of a deformed microsphere are accurately established. X-ray micro CT could become a unique platform for the characterization of such deformed 3D microcavities by providing a precise means for determining the degree of deformation necessary for potential applications in ray chaos and quantum chaos.