High-Performance All-Optical Logic Operations Using Ψ-Shaped Silicon Waveguides at 1.55 μm

We simulate with FDTD solutions a complete family of basic Boolean logic operations, which includes XOR, AND, OR, NOT, NOR, NAND, and XNOR, by using compact psi-shaped silicon-on-silica optical waveguides that are operated at a 1.55 mu m telecommunications wavelength. Four identical slots and one microring resonator, all made of silicon deposited on silica, compose the adopted waveguide. The operating principle of these logic gates is based on the constructive and destructive interferences that result from the phase differences incurred by the launched input optical beams. The performance of these logic operations is evaluated against the contrast ratio (CR) metric. The obtained results suggest that the considered functions designed with the employed waveguide can be realized all-optically with higher CRs and faster speeds than other reported designs.

Automated summary

In this study, a complete set of basic Boolean logic operations is implemented using compact psi-shaped silicon-on-silica optical waveguides at a 1.55 mu m wavelength. The logic gates operate based on interference effects resulting from phase differences of input optical beams and their performance is evaluated using the contrast ratio (CR) metric.