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arXiv · 1204.5515

A Silicon Optical Transistor

Leo T. Varghese·Li Fan·Jian Wang·Fuwan Gan·Ben Niu·Yi Xuan·Andrew M. Weiner·Minghao Qi
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Abstract

A fundamental road block for all-optical information processing is the difficulty in realizing a silicon optical transistor with the ability to provide optical gain, input output isolation and buffer action. In this work, we demonstrate an all-optical transistor using optical nonlinearity in microrings. By using weak light to control strong light, we observed an On/Off ratio up to 20 dB. It can compensate losses in other optical devices and provide fan-out capability. The device is ultra compact and is compatible with current complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processing.

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Leo T. Varghese, Li Fan, Jian Wang, Fuwan Gan, Ben Niu, Yi Xuan, Andrew M. Weiner, Minghao Qi. 2012-04-24. A Silicon Optical Transistor. https://arxiv.org/abs/1204.5515

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