Ray chaos in optical cavities based upon standard laser mirrors.
We present a composite optical cavity made of standard laser mirrors; the cavity consists of a suitable combination of stable and unstable cavities. In spite of its very open nature the composite cavity shows ray chaos, which may be either soft or hard, depending on the cavity configuration. This opens a convenient route for experimental studies of the quantum aspects of a chaotic wave field.
Aiello
A
A
Huygens Laboratory, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9504, Leiden, The Netherlands.
van Exter
M P
MP
Woerdman
J P
JP