One-electron theory of nonlinear refraction

Abstract

The design of optically bistable cavities for low-power switching requires an understanding of the variation of nonlinearities in refractive index with material, temperature, wavelength and cavity parameters. Analytic expressions, suitable for scaling, are discussed. The connections between the giant nonlinearities under current investigation and the nonlinear optical mixing processes studied since the 1960s are reviewed and the self-consistent semiconductor optical bistability problem is summarized.