Spectrum of Radiation Transmission by a Thin Layer of Resonant Atoms

We have explored the possibility of observing bistability of the frequency dependence of transmission of a thin (less than the wavelength of the acting laser radiation) surface layer of active atoms. For the external field strength corresponding to the transition saturation, we predict the hysteresis behavior of transmission on separate portions of the dependence and sharp asymmetry of resonance curves of absorption if the influence on the dielectric constant of the medium of a layer of transitions adjacent to the resonance one and capable of interacting with radiation is taken into account.