Applications of optical integrated circuits to signal processing

Optical functional devices are indispensable for light signal processing systems. So far, various functions have been realized by use of integrated configuration of semiconductor optical devices, This paper descrides progress in semiconductor optical functonal devices based on semicoductuctor laser diodes and their application to ligh signal processing. First, it is shown that memory operation can be demonstrated with a bistable laser diode with a tandem electrode structure, and then ultra-opical flip-ffop operation of a bistable laser diode is introduced. Second, a wavelength converter laser and a tunable wavelength filter, which are thought to be promising for wavelength division switching networks, ar descrideb. Finally, it is shown that various optical logic operations can be attained by using the bistable laser diode.