United States of America As Represented by the Secretary of the Air Force

Richard J Michalak

Paul David Swanson

Chung L Tang

Douglas Bourne Shire

Michael A Parker

James S Kimmet

The Vertical-cavity-surface-emitting Lasers with Optical Gain Control (V-LOGIC) form a family of integrated optical smart pixels for interconnect and signal processing applications. V-LOGIC devices consist of Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) and In-Plane Lasers. (IPL) with cross-coupled cavities. The devices can operate in a digital, an analog or a hybrid mode. The IPLs either fully quench or modulate the VCSEL depending on whether the device is used in the digital or analog mode. In the Hybrid mode, one IPL serves as an enable input while another one modulates the VCSEL. The V-LOGIC devices can operate significantly faster than modulated lasers since, for the quenching phenomena, (1) the VCSEL carrier population is essentially constant and (2) the quenching is all-optical and does not require intermediate drive electronics. The family of devices solve the leading outstanding problems in optical switching and interconnect technologies. In particular, they form the basis for multiplanar optical signal processors, N.times.M optical routers, ATM and packet switching fabrics, and multi-chip modules.

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Manlius, NY, United States of America

Richard J Michalak