Abstract

There has been much interest in the integration of optoelectronic bistable switches^1–4 because of their capability of use in optical interconnection and parallel processing. Among various bistable switches, the switch utilizing optical positive feedback between a light emitting diode (LED) and a heterostructure phototransistor (HPT) has the advantages of inherent gain and unidirectionality for optical signals.¹ Although integration of this type of switch has already been demonstrated, the bias voltage should be made to be zero to reset the switch,⁴ We demonstrate an optically erasable photonic parallel memory (OE-PPM), an array of bistable switches which are set and reset by optical signals.

© 1990 Optical Society of America