Exclusive OR circuit for optical signals using combined technology of photonics and electronics

A novel exclusive OR circuit with a simple configuration for binary signals, which is composed of a balanced photodetector and an intensity modulator, is proposed. Two input optical signals into the balanced detector produce an electrical signal to drive the modulator. The modulator outputs an optical exclusive OR signal of the two input optical signals. The primary operation is demonstrated by evaluating the circuit with 10 Gbit/s signals.