Electromagnetic Waves and Optical Resonators

Aims and Objectives

• To introduce some theory of electromagnetic waves.

• To introduce optical bistability and show some related devices.

• To discuss possible future applications.

• To apply some of the theory of nonlinear dynamical systems to model a real physical system.

On completion of this chapter, the reader should be able to

• understand the basic theory of Maxwell’s equations;

• derive the equations to model a nonlinear simple fiber ring (SFR) resonator;

• investigate some of the dynamics displayed by these devices and plot chaotic attractors;

• use a linear stability analysis to predict regions of instability and bistability;

• plot bifurcation diagrams using the first and second iterative methods;

• compare the results from four different methods of analysis.