Ultrafast nonlinear absorption in hemoprotein cytochrome-c and its application to computing

Abstract

Ultrafast saturable and reverse saturable absorption has been theoretically analyzed in hemoprotein cytochrome-c (cyt-c). The effect of laser pulse intensity and pulse width, absorption cross-section, pulse frequency and lifetime of the excited states has been studied in detail to optimize saturable and reverse saturable absorption. The results have been used to design all-optical femtosecond AND, OR NOT and the universal NOR and NAND logic gates, at 530 and 460 nm respectively. Theoretical simulations are in good agreement with reported experimental results. The designs are the first application of cyt-c based all-optical logic gates with sub-picosecond switch off/on time. The advantages of simple design, ultrafast operation, high nonlinear optical coefficients and stability of cyt-c in a broad spectral range, make it prospective for photonic computing applications.