Optical Bistability in Periodic Media with Third-, Fifth-, and Seventh-Order Nonlinearities

In this paper, the numerical studies on optical-bistability phenomena in third-, fifth-, and seventh-order nonlinear periodic media are presented. By cross-phase modulation with strong Gaussian pump, the continuous-wave probe transmission that operates in bistability regime can be permanently switched from low to high and vice versa using the property of the unstable state. While there is only one hysteresis in the third-order nonlinear periodic media, double hysteresis are observed in the nonlinear-transmission characteristics of pi phase-shifted periodic media with third-fifth and third-fifth-seventh-order nonlinearities. In the context of double hysteresis, unique-bistability regime is defined where the high state can be reached as input comes from low to high with fast enough rise time such that the output rises above the unstable state during its transient. Finally, all-optical transistor operation is shown as a prominent application of optical bistability based on the unstable-state principle