Patent 7760970 was granted and assigned to California Institute of Technology on July, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A single-photon absorption all-optical modulator, systems employing the same, and methods of making and using the same. An illustrative example is provided based on silicon semiconductor technology that employs rectangular waveguides. In some embodiments, it is observed that the waveguides operate with an absorption density of less than 1017 cm−1s−1mW−1 to provide a single-photon absorption operation mode.