Dispersive medium's normal coupled modes and low threshold optical bistability in a symmetric one-dimensional photonic crystal

We present a detailed study of the dispersive medium's normal coupled modes in a symmetric one-dimensional photonic crystals (1D PCs). The splitting, homogeneous broadening effect, and the detuning effect of the normal coupled modes can be well controlled by adjusting the parameters of the dispersive medium. The bistable behavior of the PCs with Keff medium is also investigated and it is found that the threshold intensity of nonlinear optical bistability (OB) of 1D PCs with dispersive medium is much lower than that of structure without dispersive medium. The threshold intensity is strikingly sensitive to the coupling strength of the dispersive medium. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.