Optical cross talk between nearby optical bistable devices on the same étalon

This Letter is concerned with the parallel operation of optical bistable devices. The two-beam side-by-side case has been simulated numerically. Diffraction coupling from one device operating in the upper branch can cause the other one, operating in the lower branch, to switch to the upper branch if the separation of the two beams is too small. The separation required for independent operation is usually a few beamwidths. The results give promise for performing parallel operations with optical bistable devices on the same étalon.