All-Optical Shift Register Using Polarization Bistable VCSEL Array

We investigated all-optical shift register operations using 1.55-μm polarization bistable vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) formed in an array. The VCSEL array consisted of VCSELs that oscillated with single longitudinal and transverse modes at room temperature. The lasing wavelengths were tuned by adjusting the driving currents of each VCSEL. A VCSEL in the array exhibited polarization flip-flop operation by injection of the orthogonally polarized set-reset input pulses. By injection of the VCSEL output light into another VCSEL in the same array through a polarizer and an optical gate, the second VCSEL also exhibited polarization flip-flop operation according to the polarization state of the first VCSEL. The shift register operation has been successfully demonstrated using two adjacent VCSELs in the array. The optical power needed for polarization switching is usually lower than the VCSEL output power. Thus, this shift register operation was achieved without optical amplifiers.