Intrinsic optical bistability in a thin layer of nonlinear optical material by means of local field effects

We show that a single thin layer (thickness much less than an optical wavelength) of nonlinear optical material can display optical bistability solely as a consequence of local field effects. Optical bistability is predicted when the phase of the complex third-order susceptibility χ (3) is nearly op...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics communications 2000-05, Vol.179 (1), p.577-580
Main Authors: Yoon, Y.-K, Bennink, Ryan S, Boyd, Robert W, Sipe, J.E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Exact sciences and technology
Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications)
Nonlinear optical crystals
Nonlinear optics
Optical bistability, multistability and switching, including local field effects
Optical bistability, multistability, and switching
Optical materials
Optics
Physics
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Summary:We show that a single thin layer (thickness much less than an optical wavelength) of nonlinear optical material can display optical bistability solely as a consequence of local field effects. Optical bistability is predicted when the phase of the complex third-order susceptibility χ (3) is nearly opposite that of the linear dielectric constant ϵ and when the incident field amplitude is adjusted so that | χ (3)|| E 0| 2 is approximately equal to 10 −3| ϵ| 3.
ISSN:0030-4018
1873-0310
DOI:10.1016/S0030-4018(99)00739-7