Abstract

It is shown that if two light beams intersect in a medium containing the appropriate molecule, one beam can modulate the other by making use of the differences in the absorption spectra of the ground and excited molecular states. This is possible even with the power of semiconductor lasers. From this, an opto–optical modulating device can be conceived which would have micrometer dimensions, potentially fast response time, and significant quantum gain. Such a device could find use in optical communications and optical computing.

© 1986 Optical Society of America

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