Active microring optical integrator associated with electroabsorption modulators for high speed low light power...

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Optical Engineering
• Semiconductor Devices
• Optical Computing

Background:

• Optical data storage is crucial for high-speed computing.
• Existing technologies face limitations in speed and power consumption.
• Novel materials and device architectures are needed for advanced optical memory.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and analyze a novel loadable and erasable optical memory unit.
• To investigate the performance of an active microring integrator with electroabsorption modulators (EAM).
• To assess the feasibility of this unit for optical data stream storage and buffering.

Main Methods:

• Modeling the gain of an active microring using a two-energy band model, including amplified spontaneous emission noise.
• Applying light field propagation equations and EAM-MZI switch transfer functions.
• Simulating memory operation under varying injection light powers and analyzing carrier consumption effects.

Main Results:

• The optical memory unit exhibits step-function performance under gain matching conditions.
• Carrier consumption affects step-function response and memory performance.
• The device operates effectively at low light power injection, mitigating performance degradation.

Conclusions:

• The proposed optical memory unit demonstrates promising loadable and erasable functionality.
• Performance is robust at low light power, overcoming carrier consumption issues.
• The unit is suitable for cascading, dense integration, and high-speed, low-power optical data buffering.