Optical bistability in V-type atoms driven by a coherent field in a broadband squeezed vacuum

Abstract

We study the optical bistability (OB) induced in a coherently-driven V-type three-level atom, when the cancellation of the spontaneous emission produced by quantum interference in the two possible decay channels to the ground sublevel takes place. In addition the atoms interact with a beam in a broadband squeezed vacuum state. New features are found in this situation. In particular, vacuum-induced optical bistability (VIOB) may be controlled by the amplitude of the squeezed vacuum or its phase relative to the phase of the external field.