2-D Bistable Optical Circuits.
Abstract
This final report summarizes a investigation of: (1) two dimensional arrays of bistable optical elements and circuits based on microchannel spatial light modulator (MSLM) technology; (2) an investigation of the possible applications of the balanced ternary system (BTS) in digital optical processing and (3) a preliminary study of the design of hybrid optical inference machines. The bistable circuit arrays employ optical feedback around an MSLM, and a novel device called the beamlet from a single input laser beam. A general purpose versatile circuit is discussed as well as systems for phase-driven bistability and amplitude-driven bistability. In the BTS study, it is shown that the BTS offers several advantages over the conventional binary system. These include more efficient use of optical power and space-bandwidth product coupled with increased dynamic range when performing multiplication. Finally, in the symbolic processing program, two novel hybrid optical architectures are proposed for parallel symbolic inference on electronic knowledge bases. Keywords: Bistability; Spatial light modulators; Optical information processing; Feedback.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 30, 1987
- Accession Number
- ADA179964
Entities
People
- Cardinal Warde
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology