Nonlinear Optical Dynamics and High Reflectance of a Monolayer of Three-Level Quantum Emitters with a Doublet in the Excited State

Abstract: We study theoretically the nonlinear optical response of a monolayer of regularly arranged three-level identical quantum emitters with a doublet in the excited state to the action of a monochromatic electromagnetic field quasi-resonant to optical transitions in the emitter. The total retarded dipole–dipole interaction of the emitters is accounted for in the mean-field approximation. This interaction plays the role of a positive feedback, which (in combination with the immanent nonlinearity of emitters themselves) leads to multistability of the monolayer response. The stability of different response branches is analyzed using the Lyapunov exponents method. It is found that the instability type depends on the doublet splitting and changes from self-oscillations to chaos upon increasing the splitting. Another important property of the monolayer is its high (almost 100%) reflectance in a certain frequency range; i.e., within this range, the monolayer operates as a perfect nanometer mirror; moreover, reflection can be switched to transmission changing slightly the incident field amplitude (bistability). The possibility of application of the above mentioned monolayer optical properties in nanophotonics is discussed.