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Asymmetric Resonant Optical Cavities

A. Douglas Stone, Applied Physics, Yale Univ., New Haven, Conn, and Jens U. Nöckel, Max-Planck-Institut f. Physik kom-plexer Systeme, Dresden, Germany.

A new and useful type of optical resonator has been proposed based on the principles of chaos theory. The asymmetric resonant cavity (ARC) is an extension of the concept of spherical or cylindrical dielectric resonators that have high-Q "whispering gallery" (WG) modes trapped by total internal reflection. In the ARC, such a cylinder or sphere is deformed substantially, but in a smooth and convex manner, leading to an oval cross-section (see Fig. la, page 38).