Wave-chaotic optical resonators and lasers

Deformed cylindrical and spherical dielectric optical resonators and lasers are analyzed from the perspective of non-linear dynamics and quantum chaos theory. In the short-wavelength limit such resonators behave like billiard systems with non-zero escape probability due to refraction. A ray model is introduced to predict the resonance lifetimes and emission patterns from s uch a cavity. A universal wavelength-independent broadening is predicted an d found for large deformations of the cavity. However there are significant wave-chaotic corrections to the model which arise from chaos-assisted tunn eling and dynamical localization effects. Highly directional emission from lasers based on these resonators is predicted from chaotic "whispering gall ery" modes for index of refraction less than two. The detailed nature of th e emission pattern can be understood from the nature of the phase-space flo w in the billiard, and a dramatic variation of this pattern with index of r efraction is found due to an effect we term "dynamical eclipsing". Semicond uctor lasers of this type also show highly directional emission and high ou tput power but from different modes associated with periodic orbits, both s table and unstable. A semiclassical approach to these modes is briefly revi ewed. These asymmetric resonant cavities (ARCs) show promise as components in future integrated optical devices, providing perhaps the first applicati on of quantum chaos theory.