Ultrafast analog computer circuits that use the Pockels effect

Abstract

Novel optoelectronic circuits are presented that perform the analog mathematical operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, temporal differentiation, and temporal integration for electrical signals that may have arbitrary frequency components in the extremely broad range of 0-100 GHz. Recent reports have demonstrated that simple, integrated-optic Mach-Zehnder intensity modulators with an almost flat frequency response may be constructed. The ultrafast (~3-ps rise time) cascadable circuits described here represent straightforward extensions of this technology, and only the well-known relations for the linear, electro-optic Pockels effect are required, as applied to traveling-wave phase modulators.