We report on an experimental observation of optical wave chaos in a resonator consisting of three standard, high-reflectivity mirrors. The nonseparability of the wave equation necessary for chaos is introduced by violating the paraxial approximation. Until recently progress in optical wave chaos was hampered by the inherent difficulty in realizing suitable microscopic systems; now this novel, macroscopic approach offers complete and easy control and allows unprecedented study of optical wave chaos.

• Received 21 June 2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.064101