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Three-state all-optical memory based on three-coupled polarization switches

Y. Liu, M.T. Hill, Daan Lenstra, Nicola Calabretta, H. de Waardt, G.D. Khoe, H.J.S. Dorren

Published Jan 1, 2003• 3 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

An all-optical memory with three states is presented. The optical memory is realized from three-coupled identical nonlinear polarization switches. The state of the optical memory is determined by the wavelength of the memory’s output light. In each state, only one wavelength is dominant. The concept is explained and experimental results are presented that demonstrate that a contrast ratio of over 20 dB and a switching power of around 8 dBm can be obtained. This concept can be extended for an all-optical memory with a large number of states, which is crucial to realize 1×N all-optical packet switches.

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An all-optical memory with three states is presented. The optical memory is realized from three-coupled identical nonlinear polarization switches. The state of the optical memory is determined by the wavelength of the memory’s output light. In each state, only one wavelength is dominant. The concept is explained and experimental results are presented that demonstrate that a contrast ratio of over 20 dB and a switching power of around 8 dBm can be obtained. This concept can be extended for an all-optical memory with a large number of states, which is crucial to realize 1×N all-optical packet switches.
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We present an experimental demonstration of an all optical memory consisting of a single semiconductor optical amplifier as the active medium based on wave mixing. The circuit is a fiber ring consisting of a semiconductor amplifier, a bi-directional 2x2 fiber coupler, an isolator, a polarization controller, and a Faraday mirror. The output is observed on the spectrum analyzer, which consists of the peak wavelength of the SOA plus an additional signal generated through wave mixing, which is tunable within the band gap of the SOA. We shall demonstrate two modes of operation of the device, which will consist of a flip flop switch between three states, as well as a single data storage memory. The stable states consist of two modes, where the mode amplitude represents the state. Mode 1 corresponds to 1500 nanometers and mode 2 corresponds to 1530 nanometers. A contrast ratio between an “on” and “off” state is measured for each mode and the mode of operation is based on the polarization. We shall present the states for the circuit, the effect of drive current on the system, the effect of the SOA structure, wave mixing effects, and how to operate the device for both logic operation and data storage.
The optical packet switching (OPS) paradigm, where optical packets flow in the network within the optical layer, has the potential to solve the mismatch between the ever increasing link transmission capacity and the node switching capacity, limited by electronics constraints. Anyway, to make this solution feasible and cost-effective, some technological issues must be faced. In particular OPS network nodes, in analogy with current electronic packet network nodes, require some buffering capability to store the optical packets. Since optical random access memories (RAM) are not available, current solutions exploit fiber delay lines (FDL), whose drawbacks are the fixed and finite memorization time and the sequential access. In this paper we propose a novel approach for optical memories, which exploits erbium-doped fiber fluorescence. In particular, an erbium-doped fiber span serves as a one-bit all-optical memory cell associating the bit 1 to the fiber transparency state induced by a strong writing signal, and the bit 0 to the fiber absorption state without excitation. The memory state can be probed injecting a low power reading signal in the fiber span: if it reaches the output port the stored bit is 1, if it is completely absorbed the stored bit is 0. The advantages of this architecture are a long memorization time (up to millisecond range) and the possibility to read the cell at any time (rather than at fixed instants, as happens with FDL). If the memory needs to be reset, a proper erasing signal is sent to speed up the memory cleaning. Experimental results have shown the feasibility of the proposed approach: a one-bit optical memory cell with 2.5 ms refresh time, 752 /spl mu/J writing energy, 316 /spl mu/J erasing energy, and contrast ratio up to 21 dB is experimentally demonstrated.
The Kerr nonlinearity can be a key enabler for many digital photonic circuits as it allows access to bistable states needed for all-optical memories and switches. A common technique is to use the Kerr shift to control the resonance frequency of a resonator and use it as a bistable, optically-tunable filter. However, this approach works only in a narrow power and frequency range or requires the use of an auxiliary laser. An alternative approach is to use the asymmetric bistability between counterpropagating light states resulting from the interplay between self- and cross-phase modulation, which allows light to enter a ring resonator in just one direction. Logical high and low states can be represented and stored as the direction of circulation of light, and controlled by modulating the input power. Here we study the switching speed, operating laser frequency and power range, and contrast ratio of such a device. We reach a bitrate of 2 Mbps in our proof-of-principle device over an optical frequency range of 1 GHz and an operating power range covering more than one order of magnitude. We also calculate that integrated photonic circuits could exhibit bitrates of the order of Gbps, paving the way for the realization of robust and simple all-optical memories, switches, routers and logic gates that can operate at a single laser frequency with no additional electrical power.
An all-optical packet switching using bistable photonic crystal nanocavity memories was demonstrated for the first time. Nanocavity-waveguide coupling systems were configured for 1 × 1, 1 × 2, and 1 × 3 switches for 10-Gb/s optical packet, and they were all operated with an optical bias power of only a few μW. The power is several magnitudes lower than that of previously reported all-optical packet switches incorporating all-optical memories. A theoretical investigation indicated the optimum design for reducing the power consumption even further, and for realizing a higher data-rate capability and higher extinction. A small footprint and integrability are also features of our switches, which make them attractive for constructing an all-optical packet switching subsystem with a view to realizing optical routing on a chip.