Bistability of optical patterns in convective regime

Abstract : We analyze numerically and experimentally the pattern formation process in an optical system composed of a bulk photorefractive crystal subjected to a single optical feedback. In this configuration, the system admits an homogeneous solution for low coupling strength. Increasing the coupling strength leads to a sub-critical bifurcation which leads to a pattern state. Such a bifurcation gives access to a well-defined hysteresis. In this paper we demonstrate that the size of the bistable area can be adjusted by different system parameters such as the intensity of the input beam, the power of an external background illumination and more interestingly by the feedback mirror tilt angle.