Intrinsic optical bistability in a thin layer of nonlinear optical material by means of local field effects

We show that a single thin layer (thickness much less than an optical wavel ength) of nonlinear optical material can display optical bistability solely as a consequence of local field effects. Optical bistability is predicted when the phase of the complex third-order susceptibility chi((3)) is nearly opposite that of the linear dielectric constant a and when the incident fi eld amplitude is adjusted so that \X-(3)\\E-0\(2) is approximately equal to 10(-3)\epsilon\(3) (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.