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Bistable Systems in Nonlinear Optics

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Book cover Optical Bistability

Abstract

A review of intracavity nonlinear optical systems exhibiting bistability is presented. We consider a coherently driven Fabry Perot interferometer enclosing an intracavity medium with a non-linear polarizability. As an example of a system with a second-order nonlinear susceptibility X (2) we consider sub/second harmonic generation and for a system with a third-order nonlinear susceptibility X (3) we consider a nonlinear dispersive medium such as Kerr liquid. The conditions under which these systems display bistability are derived. A quantum mechanical analysis enables a calculation of the spectrum and photon statistics of the transmitted light as well as the lifetime of the metastable states.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physics Department, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    D. F. Walls (Visiting Fellow) & K. J. McNeil

  2. Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 80309, USA

    D. F. Walls (Visiting Fellow)

  3. National Bureau of Standards, Boulder, Colorado, 80309, USA

    D. F. Walls (Visiting Fellow)

  4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, 14627, USA

    P. D. Drummond

Authors
  1. D. F. Walls
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  2. P. D. Drummond
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  3. K. J. McNeil
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. US Army Missile Laboratory, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, USA

    Charles M. Bowden

  2. US Army Research Office, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA

    Mikael Ciftan  & Hermann R. Robl  & 

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© 1981 Plenum Press, New York

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Walls, D.F., Drummond, P.D., McNeil, K.J. (1981). Bistable Systems in Nonlinear Optics. In: Bowden, C.M., Ciftan, M., Robl, H.R. (eds) Optical Bistability. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-3941-0_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-3941-0_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-3943-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-3941-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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