APS » PROLA » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 83 » Issue 12
< Previous article | Next article >

Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 2328 - 2331 (1999)

Convection versus Dispersion in Optical Bistability

Download: PDF (156 kB) or Buy this Article (Use Article Pack) Export: BibTeX or EndNote (RIS)

S. Coen, M. Tlidi, Ph. Emplit, and M. Haelterman
Service d'Optique et Acoustique, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 50 Avenue F. D. Roosevelt, CP 194/5, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium

Received 24 March 1999

We analyze experimentally the combined action of convection and a diffusionlike process in a bistable nonlinear optical resonator. We show that the very existence of bistability in this device strongly depends on a competition mechanism between these two processes. This mechanism is described analytically in terms of the switching wave dynamics of a Fisher-Kolmogorov equation.


©1999 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.2328
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.2328
PACS: 42.65.Sf, 42.65.Pc, 42.60.Da, 47.27.Te

[ Abstract  |  Previous article  |  Next article  |  Issue 12 ]