Self-pulsing in intrinsic optical bistability with two-level molecules

Abstract
Well-developed sine-wave self-pulsing has been observed in the beam transmitted by a passive cavity containing a molecular gas, subjected to a cw incident beam. The free spectral range of cavity is comparable to the Rabi frequency inside the cavity and much larger than the relaxation rate. The self-pulsing is attributed to the multimode instability predicted by Bonifacio and Lugiato in 1978 but not yet observed.