Abstract

Several potentially useful all-optical modulators and switches have been demonstrated in fiber, channel, and planar waveguides [1,2,3,4]. Here we describe a unique all-optical switch within a planar waveguide that can be constructed to mimic various elementary logic gates. This switch is based on the generation of second harmonic light (532 nm) in a single guiding mode when fundamental frequency light (1064 nm) is launched into an optically modified silica waveguide in two different guiding modes. The desired gate is obtained by appropriately programming the waveguide during the optical modification process. Such an optical modification process requires that the waveguide is simultaneously illuminated with intense light containing angular frequencies ω and 2ω for 15-30 minutes. For this paper, we demonstrate both OR and AND logic gate functions that possess good signal to noise ratios, and we describe a means of achieving an XOR gate.

© 1996 Optical Society of America