Proposal for loadable and erasable optical memory unit based on dual active microring optical integrators

A novel approach for loadable and erasable optical memory unit based on dual microring optical integrators is proposed and studied. The optical integrator, which can generate an optical step function for data storing, is synthesized using active media for loss compensation and a tunable phase shifter for data reading at any time. The input data into the memory is return-to-zero (RZ) signal, and the output data read from the memory is also RZ format with a narrower pulse width. An optical digital register based on the proposed optical memory unit is also investigated and simulated, which shows the potential for large scale data storage and serial-to-parallel data conversion. A great number of such memory units can be densely integrated on a photonic circuit for future large scale data storage and buffer.