A programmable optical interconnection system using an amorphous silicon ferroelectric spatial light modulator

The authors describe a programmable optical interconnect device for use in 2D optical information processing systems. They have concentrated on the moderately rapidly reconfigurable type as this approach is likely to yield a useful and flexible interconnection system with present available optical technology. The type of system considered uses a device which consists of a 2-D array of independent electrooptically induced diffraction gratings. This approach is novel in that it combines the highly parallel 2-D array capabilities of a static holographic interconnect approach with the ability to reconfigure the interconnection pattern. The induced diffraction gratings are used to diffract information carrying beams of light to any desired output location. As all the gratings in the 2-D array are completely independent the device can support all possible interconnection patterns between the input and output locations