Observation of an exceptional point in a chaotic optical microcavity

Phys Rev Lett. 2009 Sep 25;103(13):134101. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.134101. Epub 2009 Sep 25.

Abstract

We present spectroscopic observation of an exceptional point or the transition point between mode crossing and avoided mode crossing of neighboring quasieigenmodes in a chaotic optical microcavity of a large size parameter. The transition to the avoided mode crossing was impeded until the degree of deformation exceeded a threshold deformation owing to the system's openness also enhanced by the shape deformation. As a result, a singular topology was observed around the exceptional point on the eigenfrequency surfaces, resulting in fundamental inconsistency in mode labeling.