An optically bistable absorption scheme with additional lateral feedback loops

An optically bistable absorption system involving several feedback loops formed by the lateral supply of a fraction of light energy passed through a semiconductor with single-and two-photon absorption is analyzed. It is shown that multistability can be realized in the case of two-photon absorption. The use of several loops makes it possible to significantly reduce energy expenditures on switching and to reduce the switching time by approximately a factor of 10. A method of switching the system from one state to another by varying the reflectivities of side mirrors is proposed.