Simultaneous implementation of XOR and XNOR operations using a directed logic circuit based on two microring resonators

We report the simultaneous implementation of the XOR and XNOR operations at two ports of a directed logic circuit based on two cascaded microring resonators (MRRs), which are both modulated through thermo-optic effect. Two electrical modulating signals applied to the MRRs represent the two operands of each logic operation. Simultaneous bitwise XOR and XNOR operations at 10 kbit/s are demonstrated in two different operating modes. We show that such a circuit can be readily realized using the plasma dispersion effect or the electric field effects, indicating its potential for high-speed operation. We further employ the scattering matrix method to analyze the spectral characteristics of the fabricated circuit, which can be regarded as a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) in whole. The two MRRs in the circuit act as wavelength-dependent splitting and combining units of the MZI. The degradation of the spectra observed in the experiment is found to be related to the length difference between the MZI's two arms. The evolution of the spectra with this length difference is presented.