Cooperative Effects in a Physically Adsorbed Monolayer of Two-level Atoms
Carlos L. Pando Lambruschini · Journal of Modern Optics · 1990
We discuss the possibility of optical bistability in a monolayer of two-level atoms physically adsorbed on to a flat metallic surface. Taking into account the feedback mechanism and the local field correction we find the necessary and sufficient conditions for the onset of bistability, we also obtain the resonance-fluorescence spectrum and the rate of absorption from a probe field by an atom of the monolayer. Finally we give a possible explanation in terms of cooperative interaction for the large decay rate found experimentally in monolayers of low excited physically adsorbed atoms.