Abstract
We present the design and theoretical evaluation of a compact, ultra-high-speed, all-optical 4-bit gray-to-binary converter utilizing silicon microring resonators (MRRs). The proposed architecture achieves reduced complexity by employing only 3 MRRs, each operating as 2-input XOR gate. Optical switching is realized through the two-photon absorption effect in waveguide-coupled silicon MRRs, enabling low-power operation. The proposed converter is mathematically modeled and analyzed using MATLAB, and its functional operation is verified using the corresponding truth table. Simulation results show that the switching pump power of the architecture is as low as 1.95 mW and the data rate approaches 260 Gbps. Furthermore, the performance parameters exhibit an outstanding ON-OFF ratio of 36.85 dB, amplitude differences between marks, between spaces, and between marks and spaces are 0.09, 0.24, and 14.33 dB, respectively. In addition, the proposed design has a wide relative eye opening of 94.08% and a high quality factor of 1033. The combination of MRR count, compact footprint, low switching power, and ultra-high speed operation makes the proposed MRR-based gray-to-binary code converter a promising building block for future all-optical communication and photonic computing and all-optical information-processing systems.