Short course on optical bistability (A)

Anatoly A. Borshch, М. С. Бродин, V. I. Volkov +1 more

Nonresonator optical bistability and hysteresis in a wave with a reversed wavefront were observed for the first time because of degenerate six-photon scattering in a CdS crystal. The observations were interpreted theoretically and a forecast was made of the conditions for the observation of these effects in a medium with a nonlinearity of fifth order in respect of the field.

Hyatt M. Gibbs

Lixue Chen, Li Chun-Fei, Jing Hong

The periodic and chaotic behaviors for both long and short delay time are demonstrated successfully using a hybrid OBD. The degree of stability S is introduced into the dynamic equations of optical bistability with a delayed feedback. The instability threshold is S = 2 for long delay time and S = 1 + π/2 Q for short delay time.

L. A. Lugiato, Lorenzo M. Narducci

Nasser N. Peyghambarian, H. M. Gibbs

In this paper we present the basic principles of optical bistability and summarize the current advances in semiconductor optical switching, with emphasis on recent results in GaAs, CuCI, InAs, InSb, CdS, ZnS, and ZnSe etalons. These devices have great potential for applications involving optical signal processing and computing. As an example, we discuss the use of arrays of bistable devices for parallel optical processing and for addressable spatial light modulators. The use of nonlinear etalons as optical gates is also illustrated. To date, GaAs devices have shown the most favorable characteristics for practical applications. They operate at room temperature with a few milliwatts of power using a laser diode as the only light source. Quasi-cw operation and optical fiber signal regeneration have also been demonstrated. A GaAs NOR gate operates in 1 ps with <3 pJ incident energy; this, of course, implies a 1 ps switch-on time for a bistable etalon.