Abstract

Two segment devices for optical bistability have been studied extensively but in almost all these cases the switching process is essentially absorption dominated e.g. [1]. In contrast, a particularly interesting new mode of operation from the same device results if a coherent optical signal, placed fairly near to a Fabry-Perot (F-P) resonance of the device, is injected at the initially un-pumped end of the structure. As the intensity of the input signal is increased the unpumped region changes towards transparency thus causing the F-P resonance to ‘sharpen up’ and move with respect to the input signal wavelength. Under suitable conditions highly non-linear amplification of the signal (switching) occurs which can produce at the output a very much altered signal shape than at the input. In this mode of operation the device has potential application as signal pulse re-generators in coherent optical communication systems.

© 1992 Optical Society of America