Exceptional points-based optical amplifiers

Abstract

The finite gain-bandwidth product is a fundamental figure of merit that restricts the operation of standard optical amplifiers. In microcavity setups, this becomes a serious problem due to the narrow bandwidth of the device. Here we introduce a new design paradigm based on exceptional points, that relaxes this limitation and allows for building a new generation of optical amplifiers that exhibits better gain-bandwidth scaling relations. Importantly, our results can be extended to other physical systems such as acoustics and microwaves.