Tunable optical multistability induced by a single cavity mode in cavity quantum electrodynamics system postprint

Abstract: We study tunable optical multistability in a single cavity mode coupled with multi-level atoms under strong collective coupling conditions. Two or three separate atomic transitions are excited with appropriate input cavity field andmultiple polariton eigenstates are produced simultaneously. We show that in the nonlinear excitation regime with a moderate input field, optical multistability is created and can be manipulated by a weak control field coupled to the atoms from free space. The threshold and multistability shape can be tuned by system parameters in a broad range. Under certain conditions, a bistability region can be splitted into two bistability regions due to destructive quantum interference induced by theweak control field.. The proposed scheme can be used as a multistate passive optical device, and is useful for applications of multi-state all-optical logic devices and all-optical communication networks.