Optical dynamic memory based on an integrated active ring resonator.

Abstract

All-optical computing has been considered a solution for future computers to overcome the speed bottleneck encountered by the current electronic computers. High-speed optical memory is one of the key building blocks in realizing all-optical computing. In this Letter, we demonstrate an optical dynamic memory based on an amplified high Q-factor ring resonator that has the capability to achieve an infinite memory time. The optical memory uses an external pulse train to refresh the resonator, an operation in analogy to an electronic dynamic random-access memory widely used in modern computers, but at a speed that can be orders of magnitude faster. In our demonstration, a writing speed of 2.5GHz is achieved with instant reading capability. The maximum writing speed can be as fast as 27.3GHz if a shorter pulse is used.