Mesoscopic multistability with atomic coherence effects

The steady state behaviour describing the interaction of a mesoscopic system of coherently injected two-level Rydberg atoms with a coherently driven single-mode cavity is investigated in both resonant and non-resonant regimes. Multiple-switching effects between the output field states are predicted with the atomic coherent excitation (θ) and relative coherent phase parameter (Φr) of the atomic coherent state . The relation between the transmitted field (x) and the atomic cooperation parameter (C) shows multistable behaviour for some values of the polar and azimuthal angles (θ,). The transverse field feature in the form of a Gaussian beam profile tends to degrade the multistable structure in the (C–x) and the input–output field (x–Y) relations. Micromaser action is analysed for the system with atomic coherence within and without the plane wave approximation.