Light propagation in multimoded nonlinear photonic networks has found its technological applications in a variety of circumstances. Despite the complexity of the problem, recent thermodynamic studies on optical systems have revealed that, under weak nonlinearity, the thermal equilibrium modal power distribution follows a Rayleigh-Jeans statistics. Here, we will demonstrate that by employing a dispersion engineering method, one can achieve (quasi-)equilibrium solutions that differ from the standard Rayleigh-Jeans statistics. Our analysis relies on non-equilibrium kinetic theories, which also allow us to investigate the thermalization process of an optical beam towards its steady state. Specifically, we are able to extract the relaxation rates for various types of periodic photonic structures involving single and multiple bands, and identify the ramifications of disorder in the thermalization processes. Our theoretical results have been verified directly through numerical simulations.
"},{"label":"Degree","value":["Bachelor of Arts with Departmental Honors"]},{"label":"Administrative Note","value":"Drupal Node ID: 23605