All-optical programmable Boolean logic unit using semiconductor optical amplifiers on the Mach–Zehnder interferometer arms switch

Abstract

All-optical logic device is a vital element in ultra high speed all-optical networks. If the element is programmable then the device become more sophisticated and user friendly. In this study, a compact all-optical programmable Boolean logic unit (PBLU) is proposed using two cascaded semiconductor optical amplifiers on the Mach–Zehnder interferometer arms-based switches. PBLU can perform any of the 16-Boolean all-optical logical operations (False, AB, AB̄, A, ĀB, B, A⊕B, A+B, ĀB̄, AȯB, B̄, A+B̄, Ā, Ā+B, Ā+B̄, True) according to the programming input. The performance of the circuit is evaluated through numerical simulation, which confirms its feasibility in terms of the choice of the critical parameters.