Optical interconnects using top-surface-emitting microlasers and planar optics.

Optical interconnections made using two-dimensional arrays of top-surface-emitting microlasers and integrated free-space optics are discussed for use in chip-to-chip communications. A demonstration setup with a 2 x 2 array of lasers is presented. System parameters, such as light efficiency, the number of data channels, thermal effects, power requirements, and the issue of hybrid integration of laser chips with passive optics, are considered.

Optical computing and related microoptic devices.

We investigate scaling with the cross-sectional area of energy and speed for optical devices and of optical design, speed, and thermal dissipation for device arrays. Theory and experiments clearly point to lower energy and faster speed for smaller devices and to simpler optical design, smaller propagation time delays, and higher thermal dissipation capability for smaller array sizes. We conclude that the development of high speed digital optical processors will depend on small devices interconnected by microoptic systems.

All-optical data switching in an optical-fiber link using a GaAs optical bistable device.

We demonstrate the potential for all-optical processing of data transmitted over single-mode fibers using a bistable optical device (BOD). A stream of clock/bias pulses transmitted over a 1-km-long single-mode fiber (SMF) is processed by a pseudorandom data sequence of picosecond pulses transmitted over another 1-km SMF with the help of an optical bistable device. The processed signal from the BOD is transmitted over another kilometer of SMF and detected. The bistable device is an ~3-microm-thick molecular-beam epitaxially grown multiple-quantum-well structure of GaAs and GaAlAs. The clock pulses (at wavelength lambda = 870.0 nm) are just below the threshold for switching on the device, and the switching is accomplished by a pseudorandom data sequence of picosecond pulses (at lambda = 835.0 nm). The pulse width of the data transposed onto the clock stream by the BOD can be controlled by varying the phase of the switching data with respect to the clock, which may be of importance in interle aving data for time-division multiplexing. The experiment also demonstrates the potential of a BOD's capability of switching information from one wavelength to another. With optimized devices regeneration should be possible with reasonable gain.