The characteristics of optical bistability in a vertical-cavity semiconductor optical amplifier (VCSOA) operated in reflection are reported. The dependences of the optical bistability in VCSOAs on the initial phase detuning and on the applied bias current are analyzed. The optical bistability is also studied for different numbers of superimposed periods in the top distributed bragg reflector (DBR) that conform the internal cavity of the device. The appearance of the X-bistable and the clockwise bistable loops is predicted theoretically in a VCSOA operated in reflection for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. Moreover, it is also predicted that the control of the VCSOA's top reflectivity by the addition of new superimposed periods in its top DBR reduces by one order of magnitude the input power needed for the assessment of the X- and the clockwise bistable loop, compared to that required in in-plane semiconductor optical amplifiers. These results, added to the ease of fabricating two-dimensional arrays of this kind of device could be useful for the development of new optical logic or optical signal regeneration devices.

In the analysis of biological time series, the state space is comprised of a framework for the study of systems with presumably deterministic and stationary properties. However, a physiological experiment typically captures an observable that characterizes the temporal response of the physiological system under study; the dynamic variables that make up the state of the system at any time are not available. Only from the acquired observations should state vectors be reconstructed to emulate the different states of the underlying system. This is what is known as the reconstruction of the state space, called the phase space in real-world signals, in many cases satisfactorily resolved using the method of delays. Each state vector consists of m components, extracted from successive observations delayed a time $\tau$ . The morphology of the geometric structure described by the state vectors, as well as their properties depends on the chosen parameters $\tau$ and m. The real dynamics of the system under study is subject to the correct determination of the parameters $\tau$ and m. Only in this way can be deduced features have true physical meaning, revealing aspects that reliably identify the dynamic complexity of the physiological system. The biological signal presented in this work, as a case study, is the photoplethysmographic (PPG) signal. We find that m is five for all the subjects analyzed and that $\tau$ depends on the time interval in which it is evaluated. The Hénon map and the Lorenz flow are used to facilitate a more intuitive understanding of the applied techniques.

An experimental observation of power and wavelength optical bistability and nonlinear gain in a 1550nm vertical-cavity semiconductor optical amplifier (VCSOA) operated in reflection and biased above and below threshold is reported. Two distinct types of optical bistability, clockwise and anticlockwise, are observed

Switching of a signal beam by another control beam at different wavelength is demonstrated experimentally using the optical bistability occurring in a 1.55 µm-distributed feedback semiconductor optical amplifier (DFBSOA) working in reflection. Counterclockwise (S-shaped) and reverse (clockwise) bistability are observed in the output of the control and the signal beam respectively, as the power of the input control signal is increased. With this technique an optical signal can be set in either of the optical input wavelengths by appropriate choice of the powers of the input signals. The switching properties of the DFBSOA are studied experimentally as the applied bias current is increased from below to above threshold and for different levels of optical power in the signal beam and different wavelength detunings between both input signals. Higher on-off extinction ratios, wider bistable loops and lower input power requirements for switching are obtained when the DFBSOA is operated slightly above its threshold value.