Dynamic behavior and response-time control of two-photon optical bistability in InSb at 10.6 µm wavelength

A time-dependent theory has been developed to model the behavior of doped-InSb, optically bistable etalons operating at room temperature and illuminated by a pulsed CO
2
laser. Good agreement can be obtained between this semi-empirical theory and experiment. The reduction of switching times to ∼ 1 ns by n-type doping has been demonstrated experimentally.