Patent ID: 7053359

Claim:
A logical element for executing logical operations, comprising: an optical junction; at least two optical inlets, coupled to said optical junction, for receiving at least two incoming light beams; at least one optical outlet, coupled to said optical junction, at which at least one outgoing light beam is emitted; and at least one detector for detecting at least one property of said outgoing light beam received from said at least one optical outlet, wherein said at least two incoming light beams are superposed at said optical junction, thereby producing said at least one outgoing light beam, wherein said at least one property of said outgoing light beam depends on the relative phase shift of said at least two incoming light beams, wherein said relative phase shift comprises a fraction of a cycle (2π) of any value in the range of 0–2π, said range including 0 and 2π, and wherein at least one of said at least one detector comprises an optical detector positioned to measure the light intensity in at least one specific zone of the interference pattern formed by said outgoing light beam received from said at least one optical outlet, whereby said light intensity is a function of said relative phase shift.