Optical 1-bit comparator based on two-dimensional photonic crystals

Appl Opt. 2021 Mar 10;60(8):2275-2280. doi: 10.1364/AO.419737.

Abstract

A comparator is one of the important combinational logic circuits. An optical comparator was designed and simulated based on photonic crystals. Point and linear defects were also used in the proposed optical comparator. The use of simple defect paths and the absence of ring resonators reduced the complexity of the structure. One of the characteristics of the proposed structure is that it has a very small size, which leads to the suitability of this comparator for optical integrated circuits. Another characteristic of this comparator is an increase in the optical power difference for the logical values "0" and "1," which reduces the bit detection error in the output. This comparator is also designed to operate on the 1.55 µm wavelength, and it can be used in today's optical telecommunication circuits.