Optical bistability and second-harmonic generation in thin film coupled cavity photonic crystal structures

V. Musinschi, Mihail Caraman

Sergey M. Zakharov

Liyong Diao, Steve Blair

We study optical bistability and multistability in multilayer coupled-cavity thin film structures comprised of high-index and low-index materials. The reduction of the bistable threshold and necessary index change are studied as functions of structural parameters by explicitly mapping the evolution of transmission and phase. We find that the coupled-cavity structure has no clear advantage over single-cavity structures for bistable operation. However, there is an advantage in using coupled-cavity structures for multistability in that the threshold for multistability can be reduced.

I. C. Khoo, Ping Yan, T. H. Liu +2 more

A theory is presented for the transverse intensity distribution bistability of a Gaussian optical beam after its passage through a nonlinear thin film. The equations governing the intensity distribution are cast in the form analogous to optical bistability in a longitudinal cavity (a Fabry-Perot interferometer), i.e., into two coupled transcendental equations from which multiple solutions are obtained. This formalism allows one to examine various physical approximations in obtaining the equations, and to improve on these approximations. It also lucidly illustrates the mechanisms of transverse intensity distribution bistability. The theoretical predictions are verified with quantitative experimental results on thin films of nematic liquid crystals.

Virginie Lousse, Jean Pol Vigneron

P.I. Hadji, Khadzhi, P.I., Marcov, D.A. +4 more

The optical bistability phenomenon in the steady-state light transmission by a thin semiconductor film is studied taking into account two-pulse two-photon excitation of biexcitons from the ground state of the crystal. It is shown that the transmission of one of the two pulses by the film is determined by the intensity of the second pulse. The criteria of existence of an optical bistability are established.