Observation of resonance-assisted dynamical tunneling in an asymmetric microcavity

Abstract: We report the first experimental observation of the resonance-assisted dynamical tunneling (RADT) in the inter-mode interaction in an asymmetric-deformed microcavity. A selection rule for strong inter-mode coupling induced by RADT was observed on angular mode numbers as predicted by the RADT theory. In addition, the coupling strength was measured to be proportional to the square of the phase-space area associated with the nonlinear resonance involved in RADT. The proportionality constant was found to depend only on the nonlinear resonance, supporting the semiclassical nature of RADT.