Nonlinear polarisation effects in optical microcoil resonators with fibre twist and birefringence

We study the nonlinear response of optical microcoil resonators (OMRs) based on twisted birefringent microfibres by incorporating Kerr nonlinearity into the underlying coupled mode equations. The resulting hysteresis characteristics were found to be highly polarisation dependent, with both the switching powers and contrast levels strongly influenced by the twist-induced cross-polarisation coupling. In addition, the existence of multiple bistability in OMRs is explored when the two orthogonal polarisations' resonances are spectrally close enough to influence the propagation of a monochromatic pump. Both the bistability and nonlinear switching may potentially be utilised for implementing polarisation-sensitive devices, especially for signal processing purposes, and benefit from the low threshold powers needed to observe nonlinear effects in OMRs.