Interferometric architectures based All-Optical logic design methods and their implementations

•MZI, Sagnac and UNI interferometers have been used for realization of logic devices.•MZI based implementations are stable and compact but require large number of NLEs.•Sagnac Interferometer based implementations are bulky, but faster relatively.•UNI based designs are cascadable, but they are polarization sensitive.

All-Optical Signal Processing is an emerging technology which can avoid costly Optical–electronic–optical (O–E–O) conversions which are usually compulsory in traditional Electronic Signal Processing systems, thus greatly enhancing operating bit rate with some added advantages such as electro-magnetic interference immunity and low power consumption etc. In order to implement complex signal processing tasks All-Optical logic gates are required as backbone elements. This review describes the advances in the field of All-Optical logic design methods based on interferometric architectures such as Mach–Zehnder Interferometer (MZI), Sagnac Interferometers and Ultrafast Non-Linear Interferometer (UNI). All-Optical logic implementations for realization of arithmetic and signal processing applications based on each interferometric arrangement are also presented in a categorized manner.