Abstract

Recently, we predicted¹⁾ that partial sample switching can occur in a system showing resonatorless optical bistability due to induced absorption. For an increasing intensity of the incident light, a stepwise propagation of the kink in the excitation profile takes place. In the meantime, the corresponding modulation of the transmitted light has been observed in sharp-cut color filters²⁾. Here, we present an in-depth study of the structure, formation and motion of the kinks. We supplement and expand our original numerical investigations¹⁾ by detailed analytical studies. We show that the kink profile may be approximated by a soliton structure if the diffusion of the excitation density is taken into account. Furthermore, we present some simple estimates for the kink propagation.

© 1985 Optical Society of America