2019/11/01 by Nikolaos Farmakidis, Nathan Youngblood, Xuan Li +6 · 1 citation
Computer Science · Engineering · Materials Science · #Neural Networks and Reservoir Computing #Optical Network Technologies #Phase-change materials and chalcogenides
paper · pdf · doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaw2687
openalex publication_date 2019/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Modern-day computers rely on electrical signaling for the processing and storage of data, which is bandwidth-limited and power hungry. This fact has long been realized in the communications field, where optical signaling is the norm. However, exploiting optical signaling in computing will require new on-chip devices that work seamlessly in both electrical and optical domains, without the need for repeated electrical-to-optical conversion. Phase-change devices can, in principle, provide such dual electrical-optical operation, but assimilating both functionalities into a single device has so far proved elusive owing to conflicting requirements of size-limited electrical switching and diffraction-limited optical response. Here, we combine plasmonics, photonics, and electronics to deliver an integrated phase-change memory cell that can be electrically or optically switched between binary or multilevel states. Crucially, this device can also be simultaneously read out both optically and electrically, offering a new strategy for merging computing and communications technologies.