INTENSIFIED BISTABLE OPTICAL DEVICE

OPTICAL COMPUTERS ARE RECOGNIZED AS POTENTIALLY USEFUL ELEMENTS IN THEQUEST TO MEET THE INTENSE BATTLE MANAGEMENT COMPUTATIONAL REQUIREMENTSOF STRATEGIC DEFENSE. CURRENTLY, OPTICAL COMPUTERS ARE GREATLY LIMITED IN PERFORMANCE BECAUSE NO EXISTING NONLINEAR LIGHT MODULATION DEVICE SIMULTANEOUSLY OFFERS FAST OPTICAL SWITCHING WITH THRESHOLD HIGH GAMMA, HIGH SPATIAL BANDWIDTH, LOW POWER DISSIPATION, OPTICAL GAIN, AND HIGH RELIABILITY. A NONLINEAR SPATIAL LIGHT MODULATOR CALLED AN INTENSIFIED BISTABLE OPTICAL DEVICE IS BEING DEVELOPED WHICHOFFERS ALL THESE FEATURES AND, IN PRINCIPLE, CAN BE EFFICIENTLY MASS PRODUCED AT LOW COST. THIS DEVICE ACHIEVES OPTICAL GAIN AND CONSEQUENTLY CAN BE CASCADED TO REALIZE MANY COMPLEX OPTICAL COMPUTINGARCHITECTURES. THE FOLLOWING TASKS ARE BEING UNDERTAKEN: DEVICE PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS; PROTOTYPE DEVICE DESIGN; SMALL-SCALE PROTOTYPE DEVICE FABRICATION; DESIGN OPTIMIZATION; AND DEVICE PERFORMANCE TESTING. THE SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT OF THE LOW-COST, NON-LINEAR HIGH PERFORMANCE SPATIAL LIGHT MODULATOR WOULD SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCE THE CHANCES OF REALIZING USEFUL ALL-OPTICAL COMPUTERS WITHIN THE NEXT FIVEYEARS. OTHER APPLICATIONS INCLUDE ITS USE AS A FLAT PANEL DISPLAY SCREEN THAT EXHIBITS MEMORY AND AS A REUSABLE ELECTRONIC REPLACEMENT FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM IN CERTAIN INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS.