Laser self-termination in trimer photonic molecules

We have recently investigated lasing behavior in two-cavity photonic molecules and demonstrated that the phenomenon of laser self-termination is a purely linear effect associated with exceptional points or avoided crossings. Here we show that under the appropriate conditions, this effect can also exist in more complex discrete structures made of three-cavity photonic molecule lasers. Furthermore, our simulations show that the behavior predicted here is persistent when gain saturation nonlinearity is taken into account.