All-optical, all-fiber circulating shift register with an inverter

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Optical Engineering
• Integrated Optics
• All-Optical Computing

Background:

• Traditional electronic shift registers face limitations in speed and power consumption.
• All-optical devices offer potential for faster data processing and reduced energy usage.
• Sagnac interferometers are known for their stability and potential in optical switching applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate an all-optical circulating shift register.
• To integrate a Sagnac interferometer switch with an erbium amplifier for memory functionality.
• To showcase the cascadability of Sagnac interferometer switches for larger optical systems.

Main Methods:

• Construction of an all-optical shift register by combining a fiber Sagnac interferometer switch and an erbium-doped fiber amplifier.
• Implementation of a 254-bit circulating loop memory.
• Inclusion of an inverter function within the optical loop.

Main Results:

• Successful operation of a 254-bit all-optical circulating shift register.
• Demonstration of data circulation and inversion within the optical loop.
• Evidence of the cascadability of the Sagnac interferometer switch for optical memory.

Conclusions:

• The developed all-optical shift register is a viable component for future optical processing systems.
• Sagnac interferometer switches are suitable for constructing robust optical memory elements.
• The demonstrated cascadability paves the way for scalable all-optical data storage and manipulation.