Potential applications of dark resonance to subpicosecond optical switches in hyper-terahertz repetition rates

Subpicosecond optical switching in hyper-terahertz repetition rates is numerically demonstrated using dark resonance based two-photon coherence swapping. The switching time and repetition rate demonstrated are one tenth the population relaxation time T-1, and it is a breakthrough in the critical limitation of current technologies of optical switches. This demonstration implies potential applications of ultrafast optical switches to ultrahigh-capacity fiber-optic communications. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.