Coherent perfect absorption and lasing in bimodal Fabry-P\'erot interferometers

Abstract

Bimodal Fabry-P\'erot interferometer is a model generalizing the conventional Fabry-P\'erot interferometer, in which not one but two kinds of waves propagate between the interfaces. Here, we study coherent perfect absorption (CPA) and lasing at threshold in bimodal Fabry-P\'erot interferometers. We show that CPA and lasing appear only in certain "allowed" regions in the parameter space, which, as we demonstrate, are described by closed-form inequalities imposed on the elements of the scattering matrix of the interferometer interfaces. We demonstrate topologically governed annihilation of CPA points as they approach the boundary of a CPA-allowed region. In the particular case when the absorption losses tend to zero, the presented model describes the formation of bound states in the continuum exactly at the CPA annihilation points. The presented analytical model is in perfect agreement with the rigorous numerical simulation results of high-contrast gratings and ridge resonators implementing the bimodal Fabry-P\'erot interferometer model.