Soliton processing element for all-optical switching and logic

Abstract

A new type of all-optical processing element is proposed, based on nonlinear fiber waveguides. The device utilizes soliton propagation in the two arms of a Mach–Zehnder configuration. The device displays excellent switching characteristics for envelope pulses of the sech form and illustrates the necessity for using solitons as the essential bits in ultrafast optical switching and logic.