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US 4,382,660 AGranted
Optical transistors and logic circuits embodying the same
AssigneeMassachusetts Institute of Technology
InventorsGeorge W. Pratt, Jr., Kantilal Jain
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An optical transistor wherein an optical medium receives a pump signal and produces therefrom an internal optical signal, an optical control signal being directed into the optical medium to perturb the optical properties of the medium and to thereby modify the amplitude of the internal optical signal. A plurality of optical transistors are shown in various logic configurations.
Claims16
An optical transistor comprising:
- (a) a non-linear optical medium having a variable refractive index;
- (b) means for introducing an optical pump signal along a defined axis into the medium;
- (c) an optical collector port connected to the medium to receive as an input the optical pump signal;
- (d) means for introducing at least one optical control signal into the medium;
- (e) an optical base port connected to the medium to receive as an input said optical control signal;
- and
- (f) an optical emitter port connected to the medium to emit from the medium an optical output signal of different frequency than the pump signal, the optical medium being characterized by its ability to generate a harmonic of the pump signal as an internal signal, the output signal being derived from the internal harmonic signal, and the control signal acting upon the medium to effect a change in the refractive index of at least a part of the medium and thereby modifying a phase relationship between the pump signal and the internal harmonic signal to vary the output signal.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.