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Nonlinear Dynamics in Optical Systems

New Mechanism of Intrinsic Bistability of the Optical Media under Repetitive Pulse Excitation

Alexander V. Ghiner, Gregory I. Surdutovich

Published Jan 1, 1990• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A new type of intrinsic bistability is proposed when usually "non-bistable" nonlinear medium shows bistability under action of a time-dependent input signal. A strict criterion for observation of such a bistability is deduced. It depends on the shape of the temporal response of the nonlinear medium under action of a separate rectangular input pulse.

DOI
10.1364/nldos.1990.ob228

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A new type of intrinsic bistability is proposed when usually "non-bistable" nonlinear medium shows bistability under action of a time-dependent input signal. A strict criterion for observation of such a bistability is deduced. It depends on the shape of the temporal response of the nonlinear medium under action of a separate rectangular input pulse.
We experimentally demonstrate a fundamentally new type of intrinsic optical bistability that requires no resonant optical cavity. Operation is based on mutual self-focusing of counterpropagating laser beams in a nonlinear medium. We propose and experimentally demonstrate a fundamentally new type of optical bistability. 1 The operation of this new class of devices is based on self-focusing of light; the feedback required for bistability is provided by an apertured retroreflector. These devices exhibit intrinsic bistability (the feedback is optical) and are related to nonlinear waveguide devices proposed earlier. 2 Self-focusing occurs when a light beam having a nonuniform spatial profile (such as a Gaussian laser beam) and sufficient intensity propagates through a nonlinear medium having an intensity-dependent index of refraction. 3 Previously proposed devices that exhibited
Dynamical transient response and longitudinal spatial evolution of the first-order phase transition are presented for intrinsic optical bistability of a system of interacting spatially distributed, coherently driven two-level atoms. It is shown that a discontinuity in the nonlinear dielectric function is established internal to the medium due to transient response to a coherent, externally applied, time-dependent driving field, following the attainment of a critical value for the input intensity. If the externally applied field intensity reaches the steady state, beyond the critical value, the discontinuity of the nonlinear dielectric function in the medium reaches a stable stationary condition and forms a spatial boundary between states of high and low polarization in the medium. Thus it is shown that intrinsic optical bistability corresponds to a spatial as well as a temporal first-order phase transition in light-matter interactions, far from thermodynamic equilibrium, where the spatial boundary between different phases is established by transient dynamical response to the incident field.