Patent ID: 7512302

Claim:
An all-optical gate comprising: an OR gate including first and second optical input media configured to receive and guide respective amplitude-modulated first and second optical input signals having data with binary logic levels; and a combining medium configured to receive and combine the first and second optical input signals to produce a first optical output signal having a high logic level if either or both of the first and second optical input signals has a high logic level, and having a low logic level if both of the first and second optical input signals have low logic levels; and a NOT gate including third and fourth optical input media, the third optical input medium optically coupled to receive the first optical output signal as the third optical input signal, and the fourth optical input medium optically coupled to receive a fourth optical input signal having constant continuous wave (CW) light; a nonlinear element having a resonant frequency tuned relative to the frequency of at least one of the third and fourth optical input signals so that the nonlinear element outputs the CW light as a second optical output signal with a high logic level if the third optical input signal has a low logic level, and the nonlinear element outputs substantially no light as the optical output signal with a low logic level if the third optical output signal has a high logic level, the second optical output signal thus having a binary logic level that is amplitude-modulated with the amplitude of the high logic level determined substantially by the amplitude of the CW light, wherein the first, second, third and fourth optical input media, the combining medium and the nonlinear element are implemented in a substrate, and wherein the nonlinear element is implemented as a ring on the substrate.