Abstract

The dispersive nonlinear Fabry-Perot etalon is the ubiquitous example of a nonlinear device that could be used as an optical limiter, an optical transistor or an optical memory. The optical nonlinearity of the material placed between the mirrors allows incident light to induce changes in the refractive index, modifying the resonant wavelength of the etalon. When the light wavelength is slightly detuned from the resonance, an icreased intensity can change the index enough to move the resonance of the etalon until it matches the wavelength of the light. The device exhibits a bistable behavior as reported with a large range of nonlinear materials.^[1]

© 1992 IQEC