Influence of the "hole burning" effect on the optical bistability in lasers containing a saturable absorber

An analysis is made of the influence of the "hole burning" effect on the optical bistability during operation of lasers containing a saturable absorber in the resonator. The rate equation approximation is used to examine single-mode and multimode lasing. The results obtained show that under certain conditions not only the bistability, but also multistable states can appear.