Switching Energy and Device Size Limits on Digital Photonic Signal Processing Technologies

摘要

The relationship between device size and power consumption of photonic signal processing devices is derived using device-specific models for photonic signal processing using semiconductor optical amplifiers, periodically poled lithium niobate, and highly nonlinear fibers. The results are then compared with the power–length characteristics of CMOS digital devices. The general conclusion is that photonic signal processing technologies demand significantly larger space and/or power than CMOS technologies.