HIGH RESOLUTION HIGH SPEED BISTABLE OPTICAL DEVICE FOR OPTICAL COMPUTING APPLICATIONS

OPTICAL COMPUTERS ARE RECOGNIZED AS POTENTIALLY USEFUL ELEMENTS IN THE QUEST TO MEET THE INTENSE BATTLE MANAGEMENT COMPUTATIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE SDI PROGRAM. CURRENTLY, OPTICAL COMPUTERS ARE GREATLY LIMITED IN PERFORMANCE BECAUSE NO EXISTING NONLINEAR LIGHT MODULATION DEVICE SIMULTANEOUSLY OFFERS FAST OPTICAL SWITCHING WITH HIGH GAMMA (THRESHOLD), HIGH SPATIAL BANDWIDTH, LOW POWER DISSIPATION, OPTICAL GAIN, AND HIGH RELIABILITY. A NONLINEAR SPATIAL LIGHT MODULATION DEVICE IS PROPOSED WHICH OFFERS ALL THESE FEATURES AND, IN PRINCIPLE, CAN BE EFFICIENTLY MASS-PRODUCED AT LOW COST. THESE DEVICES ACHIEVE OPTICAL GAIN AND, CONSEQUENTLY, CAN BE CASCADED TO REALIZE MANY COMPLEX OPTICAL COMPUTING ARCHITECTURES. THE PROPOSED PHASE I PROGRAM PLAN INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING TASKS: A) DEVICE PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS, B) PROTOTYPE DEVICE DESIGN, C) SMALL-SCALE PROTOTYPE DEVICE FABRICATION, D) DESIGN OPTIMIZATION, AND E) DEVICE PERFORMANCE TESTING.