Negative and positive hysteresis in double-cavity optical bistability in three-level atom

TL;DR

This paper investigates a three-level atomic system with double-cavity optical bistability, revealing novel hysteretic behaviors including negative hysteresis and complex dynamics like chaos, controllable at low light levels.

Contribution

It introduces the first observation of negative hysteresis in a three-level atom system with double-cavity feedback, highlighting unique bistable behaviors and rich dynamical phenomena.

Findings

Discovery of negative hysteresis due to cavity-induced inversion

Observation of period-doubling route to chaos in the system

Control of switching times and chaos at low input light levels

Abstract

We present novel hysteretic behaviour of a three-level ladder atomic system exhibiting double-cavity optical bistability in the mean-field limit. The two fields coupling the atomic system experience feedback via two independent, unidirectional, single mode ring cavities and exhibit cooperative phenomena, simultaneously. The system displays a range of rich dynamical features varying from normal switching to self pulsing and a period-doubling route to chaos for both the fields. We focus our attention to a new hump like feature in the bistable curve arising purely due to cavity induced inversion, which eventually leads to negative hysteresis in the bistable response. This is probably the only all-optical bistable system that exhibits positive as well as negative bistable hysteresis in different input field intensity regimes. For both the fields, the switching times, the associated critical slowing down, the self-pulsing characteristics, and the chaotic behaviour can be controlled to a fair degree, moreover, all these effects occur at low input light levels.