Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Optica Acta International Journal of Optics

Optical Bistability of a Homogeneously Broadened Medium with Dispersion

Surya P. Tewari, S.P. Tewari

Published Feb 1, 1980• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In the particular case when the external exciting field and the preferred mode of the cavity are in resonance and the non-linear medium is detuned, the optical bistability thresholds are found to be larger than those when the medium is also on resonance. Further, it is suggested that a fringe shift in the interference pattern obtained by superposition of the incident and transmitted field by a dispersive bistable device may be observed when the system jumps from one stable branch to the other.

DOI
10.1080/713820206

Related papers

Use of a bidirectional ring cavity for optical bistable devices

Govind Prasad Agrawal

Two input beams at the same frequency excite the counter-propagating modes of a bidirectional ring cavity. These modes are coupled in the presence of a homogeneously broadened nonlinear medium and the optical device acts as two bistable switches whose characteristics can be mutually controlled. After a proper account of interference between the forward and backward waves, new features of optical bistability in a bidirectional ring cavity are discussed. It is found that when the intensity of one of the incident beams is held fixed in a critical range, the device switches on but never switches off as the intensity of the other beam is first increased and then decreased to zero.

IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics•Feb 1, 1982•7 citations

Second side-mode instability in optical bistability with a two-level, homogeneously broadened medium

Bernard Ségard, W. Sergent, B. Macke +1 more

We report the observation of an instability in a bistable optical system with a homogeneously broadened two-level medium involving the onset of the cavity side mode that is two modes away from the source frequency and three modes away from the molecular resonance frequency. These measurements extend the range of a recent report [Phys. Rev. A 39, 703 (1989)] of observations of the multimode instability in optical bistability predicted by Lugiato and Bonifacio [Lett. Nuovo Cimento 21, 505 (1978); 21, 510 (1978)], with the key difference being that the experimental observations in the previous report were limited to instabilities of the side mode adjacent to the source frequency.

Physical Review A•Jun 1, 1989•7 citations

Optical bistability through nonlinear dispersion and absorption

Govind Prasad Agrawal, H. J. Carmichael

A general theory of optical bistability for a homogeneously broadened two-level system in a Fabry-Perot interferometer is presented. Both absorptive and dispersive mechanisms are included, and in the mean-field approximation a cubic state equation is derived relating transmitted intensity to all physical parameters. From the perspective of catastrophe theory, this equation describes an elementary cusp catastrophe. We show that bistable switching may follow not only from sweeping the incident laser intensity, but also with continuous variation of atomic or cavity detuning, or atomic density, with the laser intensity fixed. For the case having incident intensity as the variable control, the domain of bistability is studied in some detail as a function of the remaining fixed parameters. Stability criteria are considered for the general case including both absorption and dispersion.

Physical Review A•May 1, 1979•168 citations

Optical bistability with dispersion

G. S. Agarwal, Surya P. Tewari

The purpose of this work is to study the behavior of atomic fluctuations and the spectrum of transmitted light by a nonlinear medium with absorption and dispersion. The authors make use of the system-size expansion and apply it to the quantum-mechanical Langevin's equations for the atomic operators and obtain the characteristic curves for bistable behavior, macroscopic atomic expectation values, and the spectrum of the atomic fluctuations. The calculated spectrum of transmitted light exhibits line narrowing near bistable thresholds, discontinuous formation of bands along the high-transmission bistable branch, and hysteresis effects, etc., for detuning $|\ensuremath{\delta}|$ less than a critical value ${\ensuremath{\delta}}_{c}$. For $|\ensuremath{\delta}|>{\ensuremath{\delta}}_{c}$, the discontinuous character of all the physical variables of the system vanishes; the system no longer exhibits bistable behavior. The system, however, still shows cooperative and single-atom behavior separated by a critical value of the intensity of the incident coherent pump at which a critical slowing down of the medium occurs, exhibiting a phase transition.

Physical Review A•May 1, 1980•15 citations

Switching Behavior of Bistable Resonators Filled with Two-Level Atoms

E. Chang, Gene D. Cooperman, M. Dagenais +1 more

A comprehensive numerical and analytical study of the switching dynamics of bistable optical devices is reported. The intracavity medium is modelled as an ensemble of two-level atoms which may be either homogeneously or inhomogeneously broadened. By allowing for arbitrary atomic detunings and cavity mistunings, both the absorptive and dispersive contributions to optical bistability are included. Standing waves are fully taken into account in the usual way through Fourier expansions.

Topical Meeting on Optical Bistability (OB)•Jan 1, 1983•0 citations

Dispersive Bistability of a Homogeneously Broadened Medium

Surya P. Tewari, S.P. Tewari

(1979). Dispersive Bistability of a Homogeneously Broadened Medium. Optica Acta: International Journal of Optics: Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 145-148.

Optica Acta International Journal of Optics•Feb 1, 1979•10 citations
In the particular case when the external exciting field and the preferred mode of the cavity are in resonance and the non-linear medium is detuned, the optical bistability thresholds are found to be larger than those when the medium is also on resonance. Further, it is suggested that a fringe shift in the interference pattern obtained by superposition of the incident and transmitted field by a dispersive bistable device may be observed when the system jumps from one stable branch to the other.
Two input beams at the same frequency excite the counter-propagating modes of a bidirectional ring cavity. These modes are coupled in the presence of a homogeneously broadened nonlinear medium and the optical device acts as two bistable switches whose characteristics can be mutually controlled. After a proper account of interference between the forward and backward waves, new features of optical bistability in a bidirectional ring cavity are discussed. It is found that when the intensity of one of the incident beams is held fixed in a critical range, the device switches on but never switches off as the intensity of the other beam is first increased and then decreased to zero.
We report the observation of an instability in a bistable optical system with a homogeneously broadened two-level medium involving the onset of the cavity side mode that is two modes away from the source frequency and three modes away from the molecular resonance frequency. These measurements extend the range of a recent report [Phys. Rev. A 39, 703 (1989)] of observations of the multimode instability in optical bistability predicted by Lugiato and Bonifacio [Lett. Nuovo Cimento 21, 505 (1978); 21, 510 (1978)], with the key difference being that the experimental observations in the previous report were limited to instabilities of the side mode adjacent to the source frequency.
A general theory of optical bistability for a homogeneously broadened two-level system in a Fabry-Perot interferometer is presented. Both absorptive and dispersive mechanisms are included, and in the mean-field approximation a cubic state equation is derived relating transmitted intensity to all physical parameters. From the perspective of catastrophe theory, this equation describes an elementary cusp catastrophe. We show that bistable switching may follow not only from sweeping the incident laser intensity, but also with continuous variation of atomic or cavity detuning, or atomic density, with the laser intensity fixed. For the case having incident intensity as the variable control, the domain of bistability is studied in some detail as a function of the remaining fixed parameters. Stability criteria are considered for the general case including both absorption and dispersion.
The purpose of this work is to study the behavior of atomic fluctuations and the spectrum of transmitted light by a nonlinear medium with absorption and dispersion. The authors make use of the system-size expansion and apply it to the quantum-mechanical Langevin's equations for the atomic operators and obtain the characteristic curves for bistable behavior, macroscopic atomic expectation values, and the spectrum of the atomic fluctuations. The calculated spectrum of transmitted light exhibits line narrowing near bistable thresholds, discontinuous formation of bands along the high-transmission bistable branch, and hysteresis effects, etc., for detuning $|\ensuremath{\delta}|$ less than a critical value ${\ensuremath{\delta}}_{c}$. For $|\ensuremath{\delta}|>{\ensuremath{\delta}}_{c}$, the discontinuous character of all the physical variables of the system vanishes; the system no longer exhibits bistable behavior. The system, however, still shows cooperative and single-atom behavior separated by a critical value of the intensity of the incident coherent pump at which a critical slowing down of the medium occurs, exhibiting a phase transition.