Novel High-Scalability Architecture for Photonic Deep Learning

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel, scalable photonic neural network architecture called C3, which leverages coherence and active loss compensation to enable deep, energy-efficient optical AI systems, validated on complex recognition tasks.

Contribution

The paper presents a theory-guided framework and a new C3 architecture that significantly improve scalability, power stability, and parameter utilization in photonic neural networks.

Findings

C3 architecture enhances parameter efficiency and power robustness.

Coherent residual networks outperform non-residual ones in complex tasks.

Achieved 77.92% top-1 accuracy on a 1,623-class recognition benchmark.

Abstract

Photonic computing promises ultrafast and energy-efficient artificial intelligence. However, existing photonic neural networks (PNNs) remain functionally shallow and difficult to scale. Here we establish a theory-guided framework showing that power stability and complex-field correlation are the fundamental prerequisites for scalable, coherent PNNs. Building on these macroscopic principles, we introduce the Coherent, Compensated and Cross-connected (C3) unit - an architecture that integrates coherent nonlinearity, active loss compensation and native optical residual connectivity. Implemented on a silicon-on-insulator platform, the C3 unit provides reconfigurable activation functions and dynamic energy stabilization without external amplification. We validate this framework using a width-constrained spiral benchmark, in which the C3 unit substantially improves parameter utilization and power robustness relative to incoherent nonlinearities. In a high-complexity 1,623-class recognition task, our C3-enabled coherent residual network (CoP-ResNet) achieves a top-1 accuracy of 77.92%, whereas non-residual architectures fail to converge. Together, these results offer a physically grounded, theory-guided pathway toward greater optical processing depth, laying the foundation for next-generation, large-scale photonic computing architectures.