Abstract

We consider semiconductor Fabry-Perot interferometer (FBI) where interband free carriers photogeneration and heating due to recombination make a different sign contribution to the refractive index and temperature shift of band edge results in induced absorption. Such situation is realized in a number of semiconductors which demonstrate optical bistability (OB). Using the parameters of InSb /1,2/ we have numerically investigated transformation of steady input-output characteristic I_O(I_in) under variation of initial detuning δ_o of FPI. Different δ_o leads to the following characteristics: dispersive-absorptive hysteresis of "butterfly"-type /3/; "butterfly"-type hysteresis with unstable regions corresponding to McCall’s regenerative oscillations (RO) /4/; single-valued characteristic with region of RO; as well as characteristic containing region of RO and absorptive OB with sharp decreasing of output intensity I_O at forward switching. The limits of changing of input intensity I_in, δ_o and characteristic thermal time are found, where RO and OB of dispersive and absorptive type are exist.

© 1988 Optical Society of America