Abstract

We demonstrate a temporal conservative-logic interaction gate that can perform AND, inversion, and routing functions. The billiard balllike logic is based on elastic collisions between temporal solitons in optical fibers, and our cascadable logic gate has two temporally separated, identical frequency, input pulses that are combined using beam splitters. One of the inputs is reflected from a dichroic beam splitter that has a frequency dependent transmission; therefore, one input appears to have a center frequency shifted to longer wavelengths. The two inputs are then coupled into a polarization maintaining, dispersion shifted fiber 1.1 km long, which corresponds to about ten walk-off lengths. At the fiber input we start with two 17-pJ 430-fsec pulses at 1.67 μm separated by 4.5-pulse widths, and the pulses collide about midway in the fiber, completely pass-through, and emerge temporally separated at the output.

© 1991 Optical Society of America