Switched holograms for reconfigurable optical interconnection: demonstration of a prototype device

We report the construction of a device intended for programmable optical interconnection of multiple processors in a highly parallel computer. This device, the Holoswitch, is based on an array of optical switches (liquid crystal polarization switches and polarizing beam splitters), which direct a set of optical beams toward any of a selection of holograms. Each hologram, when selected, deflects the input beams toward an output array with any desired prerecorded permutation. The prototype device has nine different interconnection patterns recorded on a single 10-x12.7-cm DCG hologram. We have recorded permutation patterns with up to 64 optical channels in an area of 4 cm(2).