Abstract

The required performance characteristics for photonic devices are quite diverse, depending on their specific tasks. In most of the applications for optical information processing, however, high speed, low power dissipation, high switching contrast, and gain are necessary. Detectors and electro-optical modulators represent, apart from light emitters the key components as interface between optical and electrical information processing. During the past few years all-optical components which avoid the (explicite) use of electronics have found increasing attention. So far S-SEEDs are considered as the most promising components for all-optical information processing [1].

© 1993 Optical Society of America