Abstract

A procedure to obtain optical bistability in a third-order nonlinear film (or parallel plate) of low refractive index without any external mirrors is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. If an s-polarized light is incident obliquely at a large angle of incidence on the film, the generation of optical bistability can be expected because of the resulting increase in the reflectivity at the surfaces. A rigorous analysis of the stationary transmission characteristics of the nonlinear film is done for both positive and negative nonlinear coefficients with a plane-wave model. In the experimental demonstration, a CdS_xSe_{1− x}-doped glass (Hoya Y-52) plate and a cw Ar⁺ laser are used as the nonlinear material and the light source, respectively. It is shown that three operations of optical bistability, optical limiting, and differential gain can be easily obtained through adjustment of the angle of incidence as an initial detuning. The measured nonlinearity is thermal, and the magnitude and sign of the nonlinear refractive index are determined.

© 1995 Optical Society of America

All-optical bistability in doped-polymer film waveguides

Huitian Wang, Peixian Ye, Ling Qiu, Xingfa Fu, and Yuquan Shen
Appl. Opt. 34(30) 6892-6897 (1995)

Dispersive optical bistability in a dielectric sphere

Md. Mohiuddin Mazumder, Steven C. Hill, Dipakbin Q. Chowdhury, and Richard K. Chang
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 12(2) 297-310 (1995)

Optical nonlinearity of semiconductor-doped glasses at frequencies below the band gap: the role of free carriers

GianPiero Banfi, Vittorio Degiorgio, and Hui Ming Tan
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 12(4) 621-628 (1995)

Intrinsic optical bistability in layered crystals

Bozena Ratajska-Gadomska and Wojciech Gadomski
Appl. Opt. 34(21) 4326-4330 (1995)

Low-power and broadband optical bistability by excitation of surface plasmons in doped polymer film

Zhanxiang Zhang, Huitian Wang, Peixian Ye, Yuquan Shen, and Xingfa Fu
Appl. Opt. 32(24) 4495-4500 (1993)