Transverse Effects in Optical Bistability for Transportation of Light Information Signals

Abstract

The transformation kinetics is studied experimentally of wide light beam profiles at optical switching of the states of bistable thin-film interferometers with nonlinearity of their thermal nature. The evolution of switch-wave type autowave processes and inhomogeneous stationary structures at the stages of their stable existence and decay are traced. The possibility is shown of optical control of the direction and speed of switch wave front motion.

Optical switching waves in III-V semiconductor microresonators

“…8,9 So far, switching waves were experimentally observed only in a Fabry-Perot étalon filled with a medium with thermal nonlinearity. 10,11 The phenomenon of a switching wave is of importance for applied research in particular for the minimization of the size of a bistable pixel, but can be interesting as well for transportation of optical information signals. There is also a fundamental interest in the dynamics of switching due to the concept introduced by Rosanov and Khodova 12 that, in a diffracting regime, switching waves may lock together forming stationary localized structures called autosolitons.…”