Photon-echo-based logical processing

Word-by-word logical AND and OR operation with photon-echo processing is demonstrated for what is to our knowledge the first time. The photon-echo process can store sequences of optical data before processing. The present logical operations on 8- and 4-bit words are performed by using single-shot frequency-chirped photon echoes. Data rates of approximately 1 MHz, input energies of 1-10 nJ/bit, and output energies in the picojouleper-bit range are demonstrated by using a transition with a transition probability of only 20 s(-1).