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Quantum Electronics

Symmetry breaking in optical dynamics of two bistable thin films

Ihar Babushkin, Yu. A. Logvin, Natalia A. Loiko

Published Feb 28, 1998• 20 citations

Abstract

A theoretical investigation is reported of the interaction of light with a system of two films which contain two-level centres and whose thickness is less than the incident radiation wavelength. It is shown that when light of the same intensity is incident from both sides of the films, symmetry-breaking bifurcation is possible, i.e. the transmitted fields are different for the opposite directions. The relationship between symmetry-breaking bifurcation and optical bistability is determined. If the distance between the films represents an odd number of the optical half-wavelengths symmetry breaking occurs at a lower value of the parameter representing the interaction nonlinearity than that corresponding to the onset of bistability. The opposite is true when an even number of half-wavelengths can be fitted between the films. The supression of symmetry-breaking bifurcation is illustrated for various intensities of the incident optical field.

DOI: 10.1070/qe1998v028n02abeh001157

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A theoretical investigation is reported of the interaction of light with a system of two films which contain two-level centres and whose thickness is less than the incident radiation wavelength. It is shown that when light of the same intensity is incident from both sides of the films, symmetry-breaking bifurcation is possible, i.e. the transmitted fields are different for the opposite directions. The relationship between symmetry-breaking bifurcation and optical bistability is determined. If the distance between the films represents an odd number of the optical half-wavelengths symmetry breaking occurs at a lower value of the parameter representing the interaction nonlinearity than that corresponding to the onset of bistability. The opposite is true when an even number of half-wavelengths can be fitted between the films. The supression of symmetry-breaking bifurcation is illustrated for various intensities of the incident optical field.

The optical transmissivity of a mirrorless, nonlinear, absorbing dielectric thin film is investigated numerically. The dielectric function in the film region is dependent on the intensity of the electromagnetic field. Multivalued solutions of transmissivity as a function of incident power are calculated for the steady-state wave equation. The numerical solution is applied to two different model dielectric functions. As the absorption parameter is increased, larger values of incident intensity are required to switch the systems between stable output states. Also, the peak values of transmissivity are reduced as the absorption is increased.

It is shown that a simple system without a cavity exhibits optical bistability with no hysteresis but with symmetry-breaking or pitchfork bifurcation. The optical system is composed of a cell containing atoms with spin in the ground state, a $\frac{\ensuremath{\lambda}}{8}$ plate and a mirror, and an incident light beam linearly polarized and nearly resonant with the atomic absorption line. The system has a positive-feedback loop for the rotation of polarization through competitive optical pumping by ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}$ circularly polarized components. When the intensity of the incident light exceeds a critical value, symmetry breaking occurs and its polarization is subject to rotation in the clockwise or anticlockwise sense. Correspondingly, atomic spin polarization is produced spontaneously in a direction parallel or antiparallel to the incident beam. This new type of optical bistability is found to be explained well in context with the cusp catastrophe, as well as the ordinary one with hysteresis. It is also found that, in the presence of a transverse magnetic field, self-sustained spin precession occurs, which results in the steady-state modulation of the light polarization at about the Larmor frequency. Experimental evidence of the symmetry breaking and pitchfork bifurcation is obtained by using sodium vapor.