Formation and annihilation of laser light pulse quanta in thermodynamic-like pathway

摘要

We present a theoretical and experimental study of multiple pulse formationin passively mode-locked (PML) lasers. Following a statistical mechanicsapproach, the study yields a thermodynamic-like "phase diagram" with boundariesrepresenting cascaded first order phase transitions. They correspond to abruptcreation or annihilation of pulses and a quantized RF power behavior, as systemparameters (noise and/or pumping levels) are varied, in excellent accordancewith the experiments. Remarkably, individual pulses carry an almost constantquantum of energy.