Stimulated scattering in strongly coupled nanolasers induced by Rabi oscillations

Two coupled-cavity systems, or "photonic dimers", are efficient test-beds for both fundamental optics -the realization of quantum correlated states, Josephson physics, and so forth-, and applications such as optical flip-flop memories. In this work we report on the first observation of nonlinear mode interaction in a photonic dimer formed by two semiconductor photonic crystal coupled nanolasers. For this, we investigate energy transfer between hybrid modes, which manifests as a switching from the blue-detuned (bonding) to the red-detuned (anti-bonding) modes. An mean-field model allows us to explain this phenomenon as stimulated scattering due to carrier population oscillations in the cavities at the Rabi frequency. Such asymmetrical mode interaction is universal in semiconductor laser photonic molecules, and unveils the origin of cross-correlation dips in the statistics of mode fluctuations.