Abstract

Summary All-optical interconnection have attracted a lot of attentions because of the possibility to develop optical processing and optical communication^[1]. The principle of the interconnection can be represented by using an optical matrix-vector multiplication, O=T I, where I and O are the n×1 input and output vector, respectively, and T is the n×n control matrix of the interconnection pattern. By operating T, a certain component of I can be connected to desired components of O. We propose an all-optical interconnection by matrix switching with photorefractive two-wave mixing and the erase beam as seen Fig 1. In Fig 1, the input beam, the output beam and the erase beam correspond to I, O and T, respectively, where the output beam intensity is summation of the diffracted input beam intensity and the transmitting pump beam intensity. And the photorefractive crystal operates as the multiplier Fig 2 shows the concept of the matrix switching operation by two-wave mixing with the erase beam. When the input beam and the pump beam that are coherent illuminate the photorefractive crystal, the index grating is formed by the input and pump beam via the photorefractive effect, and two-wave mixing is caused. Then the input beam is diffracted by the index grating to the pump beam, and the output beam intensity increases remarkably. In this case, this switching component is On stale. If the erase beam that is incoherent for two beams illuminates the crystal, the index grating is erased. Then the input beam is not diffracted. In this case, this switching component is Off state. Therefore, the output beam can be controlled by turning the erase beam on and off, and matrix switching can be performed.

© 2000 IEEE