Normally, unwanted oscillations are removed from a dynamical system through the introduction of energy loss. In materials used for moving photons between light waves of different frequencies – a key process, e.g., for transfer of information between nodes of a quantum network – unwanted oscillations between photon populations can limit device efficiency and cause instability and noise.
In this work, we demonstrate that these oscillations can be removed without the need for energy loss. Instead, a second, simultaneous photon exchange process between light fields of different frequencies is introduced. The approach mimicks loss while preserving the optical power in the device. These findings suggest a new approach for the engineering of dynamics where energy recovery is of importance that could be significant for photonic materials, quantum information, and laser science.
