Nonlinearity-enabled higher-order exceptional singularities with ultra-enhanced signal-to-noise ratio

Abstract

Higher-order exceptional points (HOEPs) with extraordinary responsivity are expected to exhibit a vastly improved performance in detection-related applications. However, over the past few years, such an approach has been questioned due to several potential drawbacks, including the stringent parameter requirements, fundamental resolution limits and noise. Here, exploring the consequence of nonlinear gain saturation in exceptional singularities of non-Hermitian systems, we offer a feasible scheme to overcome all the above difficulties. We provide a simple and intuitive example by demonstrating with both theory and circuit experiments an ‘exceptional nexus’ (‘EX’), a HOEP with an ultra-enhanced signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), in only two coupled resonators with the aid of nonlinear gain. The tedious parameter tuning in a six-dimensional hyper-dimensional space is reduced to two dimensions. The feedback mechanism of nonlinear saturable gain can give a solution to the ongoing debate on the SNR of EPs in other linear systems. Our findings advance the fundamental understanding of the peculiar topology of nonlinear non-Hermitian systems, significantly reduce the practical difficulty in EP sensing and possibly open new avenues for applications.