3-pJ, 82-MHz optical logic gates in a room-temperature GaAs-AlGaAs multiple-quantum-well étalon.

Various pulsed logic functions (nor, xor, etc.) are performed in a high-finesse nonlinear Fabry–Perot étalon containing GaAs-AlGaAs multiple quantum wells at room temperature. Input pulses with energies less than 3 pJ incident on the device produced contrasts greater than 5 : 1 in the nor gate, and relaxation times of about 5 ns allowed us to operate the gates at 82 MHz. Thermal stability was demonstrated in the nor gate even though the device was poorly heat sunk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]