Theoretical Study of Polarized Optical Bistability Due to Rydberg State in a Four-Level Atomic System under External Magnetic Field

Abstract

In this paper, we proposed a model based on Rydberg atoms for controlling the optical bistability (OB) and optical multistability (OM) in a ring cavity. The atoms interact with an elliptical polarized probe light and a strong coupling light in the presence of external magnetic field. We realized that the threshold of OB can be controlled by elliptical polarized parameter when the first excited states of the atoms interact with Rydberg state. Also, we found that by adjusting the elliptical parameter of probe light, the switching from OB to OM is possible when we consider the strong coupling between Rydberg level and first excited state of the atomic system. We find that when the probe light becomes linearly the OB and OM disappear due to Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency. However, by adjusting the polarized parameter of the probe light the threshold of OB can be controlled due to Rydberg electromagnetically absorption. Our proposed model can be used as an all-optical device for switching between OB and OM with potential applications in optical communication.