All optical logic gates based on an asymmetric nonlinear directional coupler

The performance of three different asymmetric dual core nonlinear directional couplers which includes an increasing and a decreasing self-phase modulation profile (SPM) was investigated. The asymmetry is associated to the SPM profile of one of the channels. Looking at the transmission characteristics of the device, through the direct- and cross-channel, we did a study of the extinction ratio (Xratio) of the devices. It was observed that in the operation of the three couplers, the performance of AND, XOR and OR gates are dependent on the nonlinearity profile of the coupler. For all configurations, an AND port with gain was observed. We can conclude that to operate the asymmetric coupler as a logic gate one has to control the nonlinearity profile to optimize the transmission characteristics thorough the extinction rate coefficient (Xratio).