Abstract

A system of coherently driven spatially distributed two-level atoms, coupled with each other via dipole–dipole interaction, exhibits intrinsic optical bistability (IOB) at solid-state densities,¹ i.e., optical bistability without optical feedback. The origin of the IOB was shown to be due to inversion-dependent renormalization of the single-atom resonance frequency caused by dipole–dipole interaction among the atoms located mainly within an atomic resonance wavelength.² For normally incident plane waves of intensity beyond threshold, a spatially dependent discontinuity in the nonlinear refractive index was shown to exist inside the medium,¹ corresponding to spatial separation of the high and low absorption phases of the IOB. We present numerical results for the time-dependent solutions of the equations of motion and dynamics of the field propagation.

© 1988 Optical Society of America