Optical Bistability and Hysteresis of a Thin Layer of Resonant Emitters: Interplay of Inhomogeneous Broadening of the Absorption Line and the Lorentz Local Field

We investigate conditions for the occurrence of a bistable response from a thin layer of an ensembleof two-level inhomogeneously broadened emitters upon their interaction with resonant radiation. A Lorentzcorrection to the local field that acts on emitters is taken into account. Bistability phase diagrams in theparameter space (inhomogeneous broadening, detuning away from resonance, and local field) are calculated,and the occurrence of optical hysteresis of the system is demonstrated. In addition to this, we study theswitching time from the lower stable branch of the bistable characteristics to the upper one and vice versaagainst the intensity of the driving field, which determines the operation speed of a bistable device. The possibilityof using a thin layer of resonant emitters as a multichannel all-optical switch is discussed