next up previous contents
Next: A switch Up: No Title Previous: Contents

An All-optical Computer

In this chapter we describe a binary digital computer that utilizes photons as information-carriers instead of electrons. Such a computer has actually been built by A. Huang and his colleagues at Bell Laboratories in 1990 [15]. An important step in building this computer has been the construction of an optical alternative for the electronic transistor. Smith et al. contributed much to the development of this device [1,19].





Robert Belleman
Mon Jul 17 17:19:35 MET DST 1995