The optical bistability (OB) behavior of a semiconductor Fabry-Perot (F.P.) cavity, biased around threshold, has been employed to evaluate the optical device parameters.1 In the present work, this approach was experimentally applied to measurements of the nonlinear refractive-index coefficient n2 in OB operating conditions.
Static and dynamic properties of dispersive optical bistability (OB) in semiconductor lasers biased from below to above threshold has been investigated both theoretically and experimentally. The OB result is found to be varied continuously from below to above threshold. Although conventionally the OB switch-off time in dispersive semiconductor laser amplifiers is limited by the effective carrier lifetime, a much faster OB switch-off can be obtained when a laser diode operates well above threshold in the injection-locked condition.>
When the output parameter of an optical device could be a multivalued function of the input parameter, this device can be working in an optical bistable status. The most typical optical bistable device is a Fabry–Perot cavity containing a nonlinear optical medium, the refractive index of which depends on the light intensity. Upon the action of an intense input optical beam, the transmitted (or reflected) intensity of this device may exhibit a nonlinear response to the incident light intensity variation and, especially under appropriate working conditions, the characteristic output/input curve may manifest a single (or multiple) hysteresis loop(s). Such type of optical bistable device can be used as an optical differential amplifier, optical switch, optical limiter, optical clipper, optical discriminator, or an optical memory element, depending on the chosen nonlinear medium and operation conditions.
Optical bistability (OB) can be defined as the existence of two stable states for one set of optical input conditions. It can be seen in many different systems which generally combine some microscopic nonlinearity (e.g., intensity-dependent refractive index) with some macroscopic feedback (e.g., a Fabry-Perot cavity). OB shows not only hysteresis but also switching transitions. By adjusting the degree of feedback various related effects are also possible (e.g., optical limiters, optical transistors, and several kinds of oscillation phenomena).