All-optical free-space processing for optical communication signals

All-optical free-space architecture can find many interesting applications in optical communications in case of packet-oriented data processing. An example of an all-optical system able to perform data processing operations is described and experimented. Logic schemes characterized by high modularity and flexibility are reported. An optical implementation is proposed by using an elementary switching unit realized with CdTe:In crystal. The unit is optically controlled and operates with beams at typical communication wavelengths. Preliminary experimentation in ns regime at 1550 nm is shown.