Abstract

We investigate the time-dependent behavior of an optically thin passive medium driven by an external coherent signal and show dynamical hysteresis effects in the regimes of large and small Fresnel numbers, positive and negative detuning, and changes in the cavity quality. We attribute shifting and deformation of the bistable loop and spatial hysteresis to free-space diffraction effects that are independent of diffusive and diffractive coupling within the medium. Since radial variation of the bistable loop is not present in the parameter space explored, we suggest that free-space diffraction does not contribute to this effect and adds weight to experimental findings that evidence diffusive coupling as the dominant mechanism for radial variations of the bistable loop.

© 1992 Optical Society of America