Stochastic resonance in optical bistable systems: Amplification and generation of higher harmonics

We investigate cooperative effects of noise and periodic forcing in an optical bistable system. It has been demonstrated in a recent experiment by Grohs et al. that noise induced switching between low and high output intensity can be synchronized via the stochastic resonance effect by a small periodic modulation of the input intensity. Here we present theoretical results for stochastic resonance in optical bistable systems.