Bistable fiber-optic Michelson interferometer that uses wavelength control

Feedback of the interference signal of an unbalanced Michelson interferometer to the current supply of the semiconductor-laser source yields bistability under input intensity variation owing to wavelength-induced phase modulation. A linear stability analysis of the system's differential equation gives the ratio of the system time constant tau to the feedback delay time T to determine the critical input intensity for the onset of self-oscillations. Input-output characteristics that exhibit bistability and self-oscillations are obtained experimentally through modulation of the input power by using an integrated-optics intensity modulator.