Optical bistability via an external control laser in an erbium-doped-fiber laser

We demonstrate a new scheme for realizing the Optical Bistability (OB) in an erbium-doped-fiber laser with an external control laser. It is found that the OB can be significantly modified by changing the power and the wavelength of the control laser. We give an explanation of the bistability phenomenon based on numerical simulations, which are agreed very well with our experimental results. Our scheme provides a guideline for optimizing and controlling the OB in an erbium-doped-fiber laser, which might be useful for optical communications.