Abstract

We demonstrate the bistable behavior of a unidirectional ring resonator that employs photorefractive loss as well as photorefractive gain. The gain and loss are established by two-beam coupling in two separate photorefractive BaTiO₃ crystals. Two-beam coupling loss plays the role of a programmable saturable absorber. Irreversible bistability occurs when the maximum net gain exceeds unity, while reversible bistability is obtained when the maximum net gain is less than one.

© 1989 Optical Society of America

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