Robust Sensing Based on Exceptional Points in Detuned Non-Hermitian Scattering System

Non-Hermitian optics has revealed a series of counterintuitive phenomena with profound implications for sensing, lasing, and light manipulation. While the non-Hermiticity of Hamiltonians has been intensively investigated, recent advancements in the non-Hermitian scattering matrix have given birth to a lot of unique phenomena, such as simultaneous lasing and anti-lasing, reflectionless scattering modes (RSMs), and coherent chaos control. Despite these developments, the investigation has predominantly focused on static and symmetric configurations, leaving the dynamic properties of non-Hermitian scattering in detuned systems, which is essential for applications in sensing and beyond, largely unexplored. Here, we extend the stationary behaviors associated with the RSMs to resonant detuned systems. Contrary to the common belief of exceptional point (EP) sensors as being susceptible to parametric disturbances, we induce an RSM EP in a one-dimensional optical cavity and demonstrate its robustness in displacement sensing against laser frequency drifts up to 10 MHz. Our findings not only contribute to the broader understanding of non-Hermitian scattering phenomena but also pave the way for the next generation of non-Hermitian sensors.