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An '''optical transistor''', also known as an [[optical switch]] or a [[light valve]], is a device that switches or amplifies [[signal#Analog and digital signals|optical signals]]. Light occurring on an optical transistor's input changes the intensity of light emitted from the transistor's output while output power is supplied by an additional optical source. Since the input signal intensity may be weaker than that of the source, an optical transistor amplifies the optical signal. The device is the optical analog of the [[transistor|electronic transistor]] that forms the basis of modern electronic devices. Optical transistors provide a means to control light using only light and has applications in [[optical computing]] and [[fiber-optic communication]] networks. Such technology has the potential to exceed the speed of electronics{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}}, while conserving more [[Power (physics)|power]].
The fastest demonstrated all-optical switching signal is 900 attoseconds (attosecond =10^-18 second), which paves the way to develop ultrafast optical transistors.<ref>{{Cite journal |
Since [[photons]] inherently do not interact with each other, an optical transistor must employ an operating medium to mediate interactions. This is done without converting optical to electronic signals as an intermediate step. Implementations using a variety of operating mediums have been proposed and experimentally demonstrated. However, their ability to compete with modern electronics is currently limited.
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