Optical chimera in light polarization

• Main Authors: Chi-Hak Uy, Lionel Weicker, Damien Rontani, Marc Sciamanna
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AIP Publishing LLC 2019-05-01
• Series: APL Photonics
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.5089714

Light polarization is an inherent property of the coherent laser output that finds applications, for example, in vision, imaging, spectroscopy, cosmology, and communications. We report here on light polarization dynamics that repeatedly switches between a stationary state of polarization and an irregularly pulsating polarization. The reported dynamics is found to result from the onset of chimeras. Chimeras in nonlinear science refer to the counterintuitive coexistence of coherent and incoherent dynamics in an initially homogeneous network of coupled nonlinear oscillators. The existence of chimera states has been evidenced only recently in carefully designed experiments using either mechanical, optomechanical, electrical, or optical oscillators. Interestingly, the chimeras reported here originate from the inherent coherent properties of a commercial laser diode. The spatial and temporal properties of the chimeras found in light polarization are controlled by the laser diode and feedback parameters, leading, e.g., to multistability between chimeras with multiple heads and to turbulent chimeras.