Abstract

Unlike other dynamic holograms [1], second-harmonic generated (SHG) holograms generate the images in real time through the second-order non-linearity of the medium in which the interference of object O and reference R waves takes place [2-4]. Since the images are “reconstructed” without being “stored” by SHG holograms, sequencies of SHG holograms can be made at extremely high repetition rates without degradation of the medium. Moreover a resolution only twice above the diffraction limit can be easily achieved [2, 3]. These features allow us to perform extremely fast and highly parallel processing of optical data encoded in the O and R wavefronts as amplitude modulations. Here we consider the realization of gates which perform the operations of Boolean algebra applied to two-valued (HIGH and LOW, i.e. binary) systems. All gates are implemented by using an optical scheme similar to that of classical holography in which the plate is substituted by a BBO crystal.

© 2001 EPS