CASCADABLE LASER LOGIC DEVICES - DISCRETE INTEGRATION OF PHOTOTRANSISTORS WITH SURFACE-EMITTING LASER-DIODES

Abstract

A new class of cascadable optical logic devices is described which consists of integrated GaAs/AlGaAs phototransistors and surface-emitting lasers. The devices function as optical neurons ('smart pixels'), have high optical gain (a factor of > 20 overall, > 200 differential), very high on/off contrast (> 2700, 34 dB) and are ideal for neural networks and optical computing applications.