Optical expanders with applications in optical computing.

An optical system called the optical expander is described and investigated. The optical expander electro-optically expands an optical Boolean pattern encoded in d bits into an optical pattern of size N bits. It is assumed that d is equal to c log(2)N for some constant c, and each expanded pattern is orthogonal to the others. Two different architectures to implement the optical expander are described: one uses an optical matrix-vector multiplier and an array of N threshold devices; the other uses log(2)N novel reflection-transmission switching cells. These architectures are analyzed in terms of size, energy requirement, and speed. The optical expander described utilizes high-speed and high-space-bandwidth-product connections that are provided by optical beams in three dimensions. Potential applications, holographic memory, and message routing systems are also discussed.