Experiments to generate squeezed states of light are described for a collection of two-level atoms within a highfinesse cavity. The investigation is conducted in a regime for which the weak-field coupling of atoms to the cavity mode produces a splitting in the normal mode structure of the atom-field system that is large compared with the atomic linewidth. Reductions in photocurrent noise of 30%...

We report on a new type of optical nonlinearity in a polariton p-i-n microcavity. Abrupt switching between the strong and weak coupling regime is induced by controlling the electric field within the cavity. As a consequence, bistable cycles are observed for low optical powers (2-3 orders of magnitude less than for Kerr induced bistability). Signatures of switching fronts propagating through the...

The optical bistability in a composite, composed of nonlinear metallic particles (spherical or cylindrical) with interfacial layers randomly embedded in a linear dielectric host, is investigated theoretically. It is shown that both interfacial property and the size of metallic particles can dramatically a!ect the optical bistable behavior, and the threshold value is more less in three dimension...

We have experimentally studied the optical bistable behavior in an optical ring cavity filled with a collection of three-level L-type rubidium atoms, interacting with two collinearly propagating laser beams. The bistability so observed is very sensitive to the induced atomic coherence in this electromagnetically induced transparency system or consequently to the altered nonlinearity in the syst...

We generalize our recent work on the optical bistability of thin films of molecular aggregates [J. A. Klugkist et al., J. Chem. Phys. 127, 164705 (2007)] by accounting for the optical transitions from the one-exciton manifold to the two-exciton manifold as well as the exciton-exciton annihilation of the two-exciton states via a high-lying molecular vibronic term. We also include the relaxation ...

We present a study of the highly nonlinear optical excitation of noble gases in tapered hollow waveguides using few-femtosecond laser pulses. The local plasmonic field enhancement induces the generation of a nanometric plasma, resulting in incoherent extreme-ultraviolet fluorescence from optical transitions of neutral and ionized xenon, argon, and neon. Despite sufficient intensity in the waveg...

Optical bistability and dynamic instability are experimentally observed and studied in a system consisting of three-level L-type rubidium atoms in an optical ring cavity. The bistable behavior and self-pulsing frequency are experimentally manipulated by changing the controlling and cavity field parameters ~power and frequency!. These nonlinear effects are influenced by the enhanced Kerr nonline...

The dependence of the shift of an optical bistability hysteresis curve on the nonlinear phase shift induced by a controlling light is observed in a four-level atomic system of 87 Rb inside an optical ring cavity. In the process the intensity of the coupling beam keeps constant and the atomic system is operated at near conditions of coherent population trapping due to atomic coherence. The refra...

A single-biomolecule optical toggle-switch is demonstrated based on a mutated green fluorescent protein (GFP). We have exploited molecular biology techniques to tailor GFP molecular structure and photophysical properties and give it optically-controlled bistability between two distinct states. We present optical control of the fluorescence dynamics with two laser beams at 476 and 350 nm down to...

We report the first demonstration of optical bistability in nanomechanical metamaterials arrays of plasmonic or dielectric resonators on flexible nano-membranes. Bistability results from the nonlinearity of the near-field forces induced by light. Optical bistability has received considerable attention over many years as it represents a fundamental building block for applications in optical swit...