Optical response of nonlinear planar resonators under pulsed-beam excitation

A comprehensive analysis of the interaction of pulsed light beams with nonlinear planar resonators is presented, covering both arbitrary types of nonlinearity and arbitrary states of polarization of the incident field. The characteristic of the optical response is discussed in its dependence on the crucial parameters of the resonator system as well as of the input pulse. Numerical results are given for the transmission response of a multiple-film configuration under oblique incidence, which is endowed with a dynamic, saturable nonlinearity. In particular, conditions for optical bistability to occur are derived.