Dynamical laser spike processing

TL;DR

This paper introduces a graphene-coupled laser system capable of complex spike-based optical processing, including logic restoration, cascadability, and pattern detection, promising advancements in speed and efficiency for optical information processing.

Contribution

It presents a novel graphene-enhanced laser platform that exhibits advanced spike dynamics and processing capabilities beyond traditional laser systems.

Findings

Demonstrated logic-level restoration and cascadability in the laser system

Implemented temporal pattern detection and recurrent memory tasks

Showed advantages of graphene properties for high-speed, efficient processing

Abstract

Novel materials and devices in photonics have the potential to revolutionize optical information processing, beyond conventional binary-logic approaches. Laser systems offer a rich repertoire of useful dynamical behaviors, including the excitable dynamics also found in the time-resolved "spiking" of neurons. Spiking reconciles the expressiveness and efficiency of analog processing with the robustness and scalability of digital processing. We demonstrate that graphene-coupled laser systems offer a unified low-level spike optical processing paradigm that goes well beyond previously studied laser dynamics. We show that this platform can simultaneously exhibit logic-level restoration, cascadability and input-output isolation---fundamental challenges in optical information processing. We also implement low-level spike-processing tasks that are critical for higher level processing: temporal pattern detection and stable recurrent memory. We study these properties in the context of a fiber laser system, but the addition of graphene leads to a number of advantages which stem from its unique properties, including high absorption and fast carrier relaxation. These could lead to significant speed and efficiency improvements in unconventional laser processing devices, and ongoing research on graphene microfabrication promises compatibility with integrated laser platforms.