Potential optical gain with two crossed Fabry-Perot resonators: the influence of absorption

A crossed resonator Fabry-Perot device is analyzed for a collection of nonlinear-optical materials, including bulk semiconductors, the intraband transition in a multiple quantum well, organic polymers, and semiconductor-doped glasses, to determine its suitability for photonic switching and optical computing. We find that as an optical switch the crossed resonator offers a considerably steeper threshold and somewhat flatter wings than a single Fabry-Perot resonator and that to achieve optical gain the absorption per pass must be lower than 0.05.