近日，法国洛林大学的Marc Sciamanna&Stefan Bittner及其研究团队取得一项新进展。经过不懈努力，他们揭示广域半导体激光器的自发锁相。相关研究成果已于2025年1月7日在国际知名学术期刊《自然—光子学》上发表。

该研究团队对商用大面积激光器进行了动态和超高分辨率的时空谱分析，揭示了由激光非线性动力学自发产生的多重相位锁定的一阶和二阶横向模式。通过比较激射模式的线宽与其拍频的线宽，以及直接测量其相位波动相关性，证实了不同横向阶次模式之间的相位锁定。

这种自发相位锁定是出乎意料的，因为整体动力学是不稳定的，且系统缺乏任何诱导锁定的有意设计特性。这种部分同步的动态状态，即同时存在同步和未同步激光模式的群组，类似于在耦合振荡器网络中发现的嵌合体状态，表明这种状态可能存在于比先前假设的更广泛的系统中。

据悉，大面积半导体激光器在众多高功率应用中得到使用。然而，由于横向激射模式之间的相互作用，其时空动力学特性复杂且本质上不稳定。

附：英文原文

Title: Spontaneous phase locking in a broad-area semiconductor laser

Author: Bittner, Stefan, Sciamanna, Marc

Issue&Volume: 2025-01-07

Abstract: Broad-area semiconductor lasers are used in many high-power applications; however, their spatio-temporal dynamics are complex and intrinsically unstable due to the interaction between transverse lasing modes. Here a dynamical and ultrahigh-resolution spatio-spectral analysis of commercial broad-area lasers reveals multiplets of phase-locked first- and second-order transverse modes that are spontaneously created by the nonlinear dynamics of the laser. Phase locking between modes of different transverse order is confirmed by comparing the linewidths of the lasing modes with that of their beat note and by a direct measurement of their phase fluctuation correlations. The spontaneous phase locking is unexpected since the overall dynamics are unstable and the system lacks any intentional feature to induce locking. This partially synchronized dynamical state with groups of coexisting synchronized and unsynchronized laser modes is similar to chimera states found in networks of coupled oscillators, indicating that such states may exist in a wider range of systems than previously assumed.

DOI: 10.1038/s41566-024-01604-x

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41566-024-01604-x