Dynamical switching and memory via incoherent pump assisted optical bistability

Abstract

We analyze the dynamical behavior of all-optical switching and memory based on tunable optical bistability in a three-level Λ-type atomic system driven by a probe field circulating in an optical ring cavity, a coherent coupling field and an incoherent pump field outside cavity. Owing to the incoherent pump process, the absorption and Kerr nonlinearity near the atomic resonance change dramatically as a result of varied population distribution and atomic coherence, and then the switch-up and switch-down thresholds, as well as the width (or area) of bistable curve, can be manipulated effectively. By tuning the intensity of either coherent coupling field or incoherent pump field, we can make the system output flip between the lower and upper branches of different bistable hysteresis loops while the cavity input keeps to a constant value. Accordingly, all-optical switching and memory can be implemented via dynamical control of the bistable behavior under the assistance of incoherent pump. The proposed scheme can find potential applications in all-optical communication and computation.