Optical Computing

Optical Computers provides the first in-depth review of the possibilities and limitations of optical data processing.

Written by ten leading experts in the field, Optical Computing cover topics such as optical bistability, optical interconnects and circuits, photorefractive devices, spatial light modulators, associative memory, and optical computer architectures.

Optical Computing Hardware provides information pertinent to the advances in the development of optical computing hardware. This book discusses the two application areas, namely, high-performance computing and high-throughput photonic switching. Organized into 11 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the requirements on hardware from s system perspective. This text then presents the self-electro-optic-effect devices (SPEED), the vertical-cavity-surface- emitting microlasers (VCSEL), and the vertical-to-surface transmission electrophotonic device (VSTEP). Other chapters consider the fundamental principles of the devices and their operation either as logic devices or for optical interconnection applications. This book discusses as well the planar optical microlens as an example of a refractive microlens of the gradient-index type and explains the diffractive optical elements. The final chapter describes a method for writing and reading optically in parallel from a three-dimensional matrix by means of two-photon interaction in photochromic organic materials. This book is a valuable resource for engineers, scientists, and researchers.

What Is Optical Computing In optical computing, also known as photonic computing, light waves generated by lasers or other incoherent sources are used to perform computer tasks such as data processing, data storage, or data transfer. Photons have been shown their potential for some decades now to offer a larger bandwidth than the electrons that are employed in traditional computers. How You Will Benefit (I) Insights, and validations about the following topics: Chapter 1: Optical computing Chapter 2: Computing Chapter 3: Quantum computing Chapter 4: Timeline of quantum computing and communication Chapter 5: Photonic crystal Chapter 6: Quantum algorithm Chapter 7: Quantum network Chapter 8: Shlomi Dolev Chapter 9: Fiber laser Chapter 10: Interconnect bottleneck Chapter 11: Photonic integrated circuit Chapter 12: Silicon photonics Chapter 13: Computer-generated holography Chapter 14: Subwavelength-diameter optical fibre Chapter 15: Optical transistor Chapter 16: Orbital angular momentum multiplexing Chapter 17: Photonic molecule Chapter 18: Linear optical quantum computing Chapter 19: Integrated quantum photonics Chapter 20: JCMsuite Chapter 21: Quantum memory (II) Answering the public top questions about optical computing. (III) Real world examples for the usage of optical computing in many fields. (IV) 17 appendices to explain, briefly, 266 emerging technologies in each industry to have 360-degree full understanding of optical computing' technologies. Who This Book Is For Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of optical computing.

This book presents the principles, experimental technologies, up-to-date research findings and applications of various optical-computing technologies and devices. It also discusses semiconductor multiple quantum well (MQW) photoelectronic devices, vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), lasers, micro optical elements and diffractive optical elements, optical storage, optical parallel interconnections, and optical-buffer technology as the main technologies for optical computing. Furthermore, it explores the potential of optical-computing technology. It offers those involved in optical design, photonics, and photoelectronic research and related industries insights into the fundamentals and theories of optical computing, enabling them and to extend and develop the functions of fundamental elements to meet the requirement of optical-computing systems.

The conference "Nonlinear Optics and Optical Computing" was held May 11-19, 1988 in Erice, Sicily. This was the 13th conference organized by the International School of Quantum Electronics, under the auspices of the "Ettore Majorana" Center for Scientific Culture. This volume contains both the invited and contributed papers presented at the conference, providing tutorial background, the latest research results, and future directions for the devices, structures and architectures of optical computing. The invention of the transistor and the integrated circuit were followed by an explosion of application as ever faster and more complex microelectronics chips became available. The information revolution occa sioned by digital computers and optical communications is now reaching the limits of silicon semiconductor technology, but the demand for faster com putation is still accelerating. The fundamental limitations of information processing today derive from the performance and cost of three technical factors: speed, density, and software. Optical computation offers the potential for improvements in all three of these critical areas: Speed is provided by the transmission of impulses at optical veloc ities, without the delays caused by parasitic capacitance in the case of conventional electrical interconnects. Speed can also be achieved through the massive parallelism characteristic of many optical computing architec tures; Density can be provided in optical computers in two ways: by high spatial resolution, on the order of wavelengths of light, and by computa tion or interconnection in three dimensions.

Optics is entering all phases of computer technology. By providing new research and ideas, it brings the reader up to date on how and why optics is likely to be used in next generation computers and at the same time explains the unique advantage optics enjoys over conventional electronics and why this trend will continue. Covered are basic optical concepts such as mathematical derivations, optical devices for optical computing, optical associative memories, optical interconnections, and optical logic. Also suggested are a number of research activities that are reinforcing the trend toward optics in computing, including neural networks, the software crisis, highly parallel computation, progress in new semiconductors, the decreasing cost of laser diodes, communication industry investments in fiber optics, and advances in optical devices. Exercises, solutions sets, and examples are provided.