Replica symmetry breaking in coherent and incoherent random lasing modes

Opt Lett. 2021 Oct 15;46(20):5169-5172. doi: 10.1364/OL.441638.

Abstract

We investigate intensity fluctuations of a weakly scattering optofluidic random laser having coherent and incoherent emission fractions. The coherent part comprises random spikes, whereas the incoherent part forms a broad pedestal in the emission spectra. Evaluating the fractional ratio of the coherent and incoherent parts of the emission, a replica symmetry breaking phase transition is observed independently in both coherent and incoherent parts of the intensity. Also, the incoherent component has higher non-zero correlation values compared to those of the coherent part, implying a larger contribution to mode coupling. Moreover, survival function analysis reveals a significant contribution of the incoherent part on determining the decay profile of lasing intensity.