Kinks in Resonatorless Optical Bistability. Stability Limits and Formation Dynamics

Abstract

The stability of the S.C. kinks which separate the two regions with quasi-homogeneous density distributions in resonatorless optical bistability, is explicitly investigated within an exactly solvable model. Kinks are found to be stable only when they are not too close to the sample boundaries. The geometric condition of stability linking the characteristic lengths of the problem is formulated, which allows one to predict if the stable kinks are possible at all in a particular experimental situation. The possible instability is caused by the translational mode of the kink motion, and the explicit expression for the translational relaxation time enables one to distinguish between different temporal regimes.

Kinetics of the photoinduced phase transition at the surface of a semiconductor with renormalized bandgap

“…Such a thermodynamical system, which is far from equilibrium, is dependent upon its characteristic function, i.e. the generalized thermodynamic potential [16][17][18].…”

“…The bistable behaviour of a semiconductor with self-induced dramatic increase of the absorption coefficient has been studied extensively [1,2,7,18] with a view to produce an optically bistable system. The similarity of this absorption increase to the first-order phase transition has been pointed out repeatedly.…”