Abstract

We demonstrate a self-organizing photorefractive circuit that decodes optical signals. The circuit is a pair of ring resonators with photorefractive gain and cooperative and competitive mode interactions. When a spatially multimode beam containing several optical carrier frequencies is used as the pump, the resonator self-organizes such that each frequency oscillates in spatially separate rings. Initial results, with a two crystal BaTiO₃ resonator, show a contrast ratio of 5:1 at the two outputs.

© 1991 Optical Society of America