Analysis of optical Kerr bistable memory

Tanabe Laboratory is conducting research on all-optical switches and memory using optical resonators. By replacing existing electric circuits with optical circuits using these devices, energy-saving signal processing could be realized in the future. In this study, we theoretically investigate all-optical memory using silicatroid micro-optical resonators.

It is well known that all-optical memory can be realized by dynamically manipulating the refractive index in an optical resonator. The best way to manipulate the refractive index in a resonator in an energy-saving manner is to use the optical Kerr effect, which does not involve optical absorption, but the refractive index change caused by this effect is small, making it difficult to use.

In this study, we investigated the conditions necessary to realize an optical Kerr bistable memory on a silicatroid micro optical resonator by using a numerical analysis (Figure 1) that combines the coupled mode theory and the finite element method (Figure 2). The numerical results indicate that the coupling between the resonator and the tapered fiber must be adjusted to an appropriate value to achieve Kerr bistable memory on a silicatroid micro optical resonator, which is an important finding for obtaining optical Kerr bistable memory experimentally.

Part of this research was sponsored by the Strategic Information and Communications R&D Promotion Program (SCOPE). The research was also financially supported by the Canon Foundation.