In this paper, we demonstrate a novel RAM cell based only on three traveling waveguide semiconductor optical amplifier-cross gain modulation (SOA-XGM) switches. The RAM cell features wavelength diversity in the incoming bit signals and provides Read/Write operation capability with true random access exclusively in the optical domain. Two of the SOA-XGM switches are coupled together through an 70/30 coupler to form an asynchronous flip-flop, which serves as the memory unit. Random access to the memory unit is granted by a third SOA-ON/OFF switch and all three SOAs together form the proposed RAM cell. Proof-of-principle operation is experimentally demonstrated at 8 Mb/s using commercial fiber-pigtailed components. The distinctive simplicity of the proposed RAM cell architecture suggests reduced footprint. The proposed flip-flop layout holds all the credentials for reaching multi-Gb/s operational speeds, if photonic integration technologies are employed to obtain wavelength-scale waveguides and ultrashort coupling lengths. This is numerically confirmed for 10 Gb/s using a simulation model based on the transfer matrix method and a wideband steady-state material gain coefficient. Index Terms-Optical flip-flop, optical memory, optical signal processing, semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), transfer matrix method (TMM).

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We demonstrate a novel all-optical static RAM cell that exploits wavelength diversity in the incoming optical streams towards reducing the number of active elements. The circuit requires only three semiconductor optical amplifiers-cross gain modulation gates for successful read/write operation, yielding a 25% reduction in power consumption compared to state-of-theart configurations. Proof-of-concept experimental verification is presented at 8 Mb/s using fiber-interconnected off-the-shelf bulk components.Index Terms-Optical flip-flop, optical memory, optical signal processing, semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA).

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We report on the simultaneous wavelength conversion operation of a dual-element semiconductor optical amplifier-Mach-Zehnder interferometer (SOA-MZI) array hybridly integrated on a 4-µm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) waveguide platform through thermocompression bonding. The SOAs are part of a six-element SOA array with both facets coupled on SOI through vertical and horizontal alignments. The device achieves almost two orders of magnitude reduction in footprint compared with state-of-the-art hybridly integrated SOA-MZI structures. We present for the first time experimental proof of the successful operation of a dual-element SOA-MZI device based on III-V technology on SoI that serves as a wavelength converter, with one SOA-MZI yielding error-free performance with a 0.8-dB power penalty at 12.5 Gb/s and the second SOA-MZI operating error-free at 10 Gb/s with a 2-dB power penalty.Index Terms-Mach-Zehnder interferometer, semiconductor optical amplifier, wavelength conversion, hybrid integration, thermocompression bonding, dual-facet coupling.

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