Abstract

We describe cascadable optical logic gates (AND, OR, and XOR) based on heterojunction phototransistors (HPT) and vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) structures.¹ Here a single device provides electronic amplification, optical gain, and switching and eliminates the need for an additional external optical source or an optical bias beam. We describe optical logic functions such as inversion, AND, NAND, OR, NOR, and exclusive OR (XOR) by using simple combinations of phototransistors and lasers, and provide a specific example of binary arithmetic based on optical symbolic substitution.

© 1991 Optical Society of America