Intracavity optical bistability due to thermally induced changes in absorption and refraction

Optical bistability in the presence of an optically induced absorption is observed when a thin 13 μm CdS sample is inserted between two mirrors of 90 percent reflectivity. In our experiment, a modulated CW laser of about 15 mW peak power is tuned on each side of the
A
free exciton resonance in CdS, and the transmission characteristics are studied. A theoretical calculation is presented and good agreement is obtained.