Liquid crystal 1 × N optical switch

Abstract

The design, experimental results, and analysis of a 1 x N ferroelectric liquid-crystal optical switch based on polarization rotation are reported. The switch is broadband and tolerant to errors in the ferroelectric liquid-crystal tilt angle and cell thickness. Moreover, the cross talk in the switch is noncumulative and independent of the switch size N. The results of an experimental 1 x 4 switch are presented. The switch has a signal-to-cross-talk ratio ranging from 21.6 to 37.1 dB, a switching time of 50 microsec, and a worst-case insertion loss of 3.5 dB.

Efficient parallel algorithms for optical computing with the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) primitive

“…Fabrication facilities are not widely available-instead, the crucial electro-optical devices must be specially made in laboratories. However, a number of prototype electro-optical computing systems 3 -perhaps most notably at Bell Laboratories under Huang, 4,5 -as well as optical message-routing devices at the University of Colorado, 6 Boulder, Colo., Stanford University, Stanford, Calif., and the University of Southern California, [7][8][9][10] Los Angeles, Calif., have been built recently. The technology for electrooptical computing is likely to advance rapidly in the 1990's, just as VLSI technology advanced in the late 1970's and 1980's.…”