Glassy behavior in a one-dimensional continuous-wave erbium-doped random fiber laser

The photonic analog of the paramagnetic to spin-glass phase transition in disordered magnetic systems, signaled by the phenomenon of replica symmetry breaking, has been reported using random lasers as the photonic platform. We report here a demonstration of replica symmetry breaking in a one-dimensional photonic system consisting of an erbium-doped random fiber laser operating in the continuous-wave regime. The system is based on a unique random fiber grating system which plays the role of random scattering, providing the disordered feedback mechanism. The clear transition from a photonic paramagnetic to a photonic spin-glass phase, characterized by the Parisi overlap parameter, was verified and indicates the glassy random-fiber-laser behavior.