Abstract

The bistable behavior of an external grating coupler on a planar waveguide, which was previously discovered experimentally, is investigated by means of the electromagnetic theory of gratings. The theory accounts for all shapes of the observed hysteresis loops. The various shapes of the hysteresis loops, including the butterflylike shapes, are explained.

© 1991 Optical Society of America

Gratings in nonlinear optics and optical bistability

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