Abstract

In this paper we discuss the influence of laser fluctuations on the hysteresis cycle in Optical Bistability. For the simplest case of an Absorptive Optical Bistability in a good cavity driven by an external laser light with non-white Gaussian amplitude fluctuations we derive a Fokker-Planck equation in the limit of large laser linewidth and good amplitude stabilization. This Fokker-Planck equation has a nonconstant diffusion term which shifts the most probable values of the steady state probability distribution from its deterministic positions. From the form of the steady state solution of the Fokker-Planck equation with non-white amplitude fluctuations we discuss the relative stability of the bistable branches. As in the case of quantum fluctuations the random amplitude of the laser field leads to a small range of values of the injected laser intensity in which the two bistable peaks have a comparable area. The transmitted field averaged with respect to the stationary distribution function coincides with one of the two deterministic branches except on the narrow transition region where we have large fluctuations.

© 1983 Optical Society of America