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International Meeting on Instabilities and Dynamics of Lasers and Nonlinear Optical Systems

Overview of the Theory of Optical Bistability

H. J. Carmichael

Published Jan 1, 1985• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The theory of optical bistability can be developed at various levels of sophistication.(1) In this overview I have chosen an approach which I hope will make the simplicity and generality of the phenomenon clear, and be suited to the emphasis of this meeting. I will describe a deterministic, semiclassical theory of optical bistability, based on coupled Maxwell-Bloch equations. Statistical and quantum statistical theories will not be included. I also limit my attention to questions concerning steady states and their stability, leaving the theory of higher bifurcations to other speakers.

DOI
10.1364/idlnos.1985.wa1

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The theory of optical bistability can be developed at various levels of sophistication.(1) In this overview I have chosen an approach which I hope will make the simplicity and generality of the phenomenon clear, and be suited to the emphasis of this meeting. I will describe a deterministic, semiclassical theory of optical bistability, based on coupled Maxwell-Bloch equations. Statistical and quantum statistical theories will not be included. I also limit my attention to questions concerning steady states and their stability, leaving the theory of higher bifurcations to other speakers.
Quantum-statistical theories attracted considerable attention in the early history of optical bistability.(1) More recently, there has been less activity in this area; perhaps due partially to the lack of experimental work, and partially to the increasing interest in instabilities and chaos. It has now been demonstrated, however, that experiments which come very close to realizing the theoretical ideal—two-level homogeneously broadened atoms in a ring cavity— can be performed with quantitative precision. (2) Moreover, the rising importance of optical chaos is reason for directing attention towards, rather than away from, quantum-statistical studies, since there questions concerning quantum chaos might be addressed.
We study the semiclassical mean-field theory of single-mode dispersive optical bistability in the limit of a fully developed hysteresis cycle (i.e., in the limit of large values of the bistability parameter C) and when all decay rates have comparable magnitude. We locate (i) on the upper branch instabilities leading to time periodic regimes, (ii) on the lower branch instabilities leading to a switching before the limit point is reached. None of these instabilities are observed in the case of purely absorptive optical bistability.
We specialize the quantum-statistical theory of optical bistability developed in "Optical Bistability. II" to a low-QQQ cavity. From a linearized Fokker-Planck equation derived in the positive PPP representation, the steady-state correlation matrix and spectrum of fluctuations are calculated. Expressions which normally assume a positive-definite diffusion matrix are shown to be valid for nonpositive-definite diffusion. For absorptive bistability we find agreement with results derived previously by quite different methods. More generally we extend previously published results by including atomic and cavity detunings. We compare the transmitted spectrum for dispersive bistability with that for absorptive bistability, and photon antibunching in dispersive bistability is discussed.