2020/12/15 by Mitchell A. Nahmias, Nahmias, Mitchell A., Hsuan-Tung Peng +11 · 2 citations
Computer Science · Engineering · #Applied Physics (physics.app-ph) #FOS: Electrical engineering #FOS: Physical sciences #Neural Networks and Reservoir Computing #Optical Network Technologies #Optics (physics.optics) #Photonic and Optical Devices #Signal Processing (eess.SP) #electronic engineering #information engineering
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2012.08516
openalex publication_date 2020/12/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
There has been a recent surge of interest in the implementation of linear operations such as matrix multipications using photonic integrated circuit technology. However, these approaches require an efficient and flexible way to perform nonlinear operations in the photonic domain. We have fabricated an optoelectronic nonlinear device--a laser neuron--that uses excitable laser dynamics to achieve biologically-inspired spiking behavior. We demonstrate functionality with simultaneous excitation, inhibition, and summation across multiple wavelengths. We also demonstrate cascadability and compatibility with a wavelength multiplexing protocol, both essential for larger scale system integration. Laser neurons represent an important class of optoelectronic nonlinear processors that can complement both the enormous bandwidth density and energy efficiency of photonic computing operations.