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Applied Physics Letters

Controlled steady-state switching in optical bistability

Andy Brown, Amitabh Joshi, Min Xiao

Published Aug 12, 2003• 69 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Optical switching has been achieved between two steady states of optical bistability generated in a system with three-level atoms inside an optical cavity. The optical power switching is controlled by adding short positive (switching up) or negative (switching down) pulses to the input intensity. The coupling laser beam in the three-level atomic system is used to control the threshold value and the width of the hysteresis cycle, which can adjust and optimize the optical switching process.

DOI
10.1063/1.1600833

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Optical switching has been achieved between two steady states of optical bistability generated in a system with three-level atoms inside an optical cavity. The optical power switching is controlled by adding short positive (switching up) or negative (switching down) pulses to the input intensity. The coupling laser beam in the three-level atomic system is used to control the threshold value and the width of the hysteresis cycle, which can adjust and optimize the optical switching process.
We have proposed a scheme for all-optical switching and flip-flop based on controllable optical bistability in a simple three-level V-type atomic system assisted by an incoherent pump field. Due to the auxiliary incoherent pump, the atomic population is redistributed in the three levels, and then the absorption-dispersion property and the Kerr nonlinearity of the medium are different from those of the conventional V-type electromagnetically induced transparency system. The results show that both the thresholds and the area (or shape) of the hysteresis loop can be controlled efficiently via the adjustment of either the incoherent pump field or the coupling field. As a result, with a constant cavity input, the output of the optical cavity can be switched between the low- and high-power states of different bistable curves by tuning the optical fields. Based on this effect, we realize all-optical steady-state switching and set-reset flip-flop operation by adding a pulse sequence (positive pulse or set-reset pulse) onto either the incoherent pump field or the coupling field. Such a simple and effective technique of optical switching and flip-flop can find application in all-optical signal processing systems.
We report on the experimental demonstration of stable all-optical switching between two steady state values of optical bistability from a laser diode end-pumped quasi-three-level Tm,Ho:LLF laser in the 2 μm spectral region. The width of the hysteresis cycle and jump power values can be efficiently controlled by changing the length of the cavity, which is very important to adjust and optimize the optical switching process. The all-optical bistable switching effect is realized by only adding short positive and negative trigger pulses to the pump light. This is, to our knowledge, the first observation of all-optical bistable switching in a rare earth doped solid state laser.
We analyze the absorptive and hybrid absorptive–dispersive double-cavity optical bistability behavior in a four-level N-type atomic system driven by two optical fields circulating inside two independently unidirectional ring cavities and a trigger field outside the cavities. In this system, the two-photon absorption and cross Kerr nonlinearity play significant roles in the formation of bistability and can be controlled efficiently due to the quantum interference effect, and then the resulting nonlinear behavior exhibits different features from the two/three-level schemes. It is shown that the threshold values and hysteresis cycle width of the bistable curve can be manipulated via the adjustment of the system parameters. Meanwhile, we also obtain double-beam optical multistability. When adding positive and negative pulses to the cavity input, all-optical steady-state switching for the two cavity outputs can be achieved simultaneously. Therefore, the proposed scheme may have potential applications in all-optical communication and computing.
In an optical bistability system consisting of an optical cavity and four-level atoms positive and negative phase shifts of an intracavity optical mode can be observed under the action of control signal pulses tuned close to certain energy levels of the atoms. The bistability hysteresis curve can thus be shifted and switching between the and high transmission states obtained in a controlled manner. Based on the above effects we have realized all-optical storage and optical switching controlled with low light power. This mechanism may be of potential use for all-optical quantum information processing.
This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the theoretical and experimental studies of atomic optical bistability and multistability, and their dynamical properties in systems with two- and three-level inhomogeneously-broadened atoms inside an optical cavity. By making use of the modified linear absorption and dispersion, as well as the greatly enhanced nonlinearity in the three-level electromagnetically induced transparency system, the optical bistablity and efficient all-optical switching can be achieved at relatively low laser powers, which can be well controlled and manipulated. Until now, the rapid rate of progress in applications of multilevel systems in cross-disciplinary field has made it difficult to newcomers to the field to obtain a broad overview of this topic. This monograph will serve the purpose.