Invited paper A tentative assessment of semiconductor laser optical bistability

Abstract

A review is given of reported results for optical bistability in semiconductors, with especial reference to that occurring in laser structures. Estimates are made of likely improvements that may occur in power-speed trade-offs for these devices. It is concluded that laser amplifier bistability offers comparable or, in some cases, better total energy budgets than for other forms and has the useful attribute of optical gain. However, extreme wavelength sensitivity and difficulty in forming large two-dimensional arrays using today's technology mitigate against use of the amplifier for large-scale optical logic. These two factors may be avoided by the use of self-electro-optic effect devices (SEEDs), which are less wavelength-sensitive, and by multiple-quantum-well dispersive etalons in the case of requirements for large amounts of parallel processing.