title: All-optical flip-flop based on vertical cavity semiconductor optical amplifiers.
abstract: We report the operation of an all-optical set-reset (SR) flip-flop based on vertical cavity semiconductor optical amplifiers (VCSOAs). This flip-flop is cascadable, has low optical switching power (~10 microW), and has the potential to be integrated on a small footprint (~100 microm(2)). The flip-flop is composed of two cross-coupled electrically pumped VCSOA inverters and uses the principles of cross-gain modulation, polarization gain anisotropy, and highly nonlinear gain characteristics to achieve flip-flop functionality. We believe that, when integrated on chip, this type of all-optical flip-flop opens new prospects for implementing all-optical fast memories and timing regeneration circuits.
authors.affiliation: Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093, USA.
authors.forename: Deqiang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gauss
authors.forename: Haijiang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.forename: Pengyue
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Sadik
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Esener