Photonic integrated neuro-synaptic core for convolutional spiking neural network

Neuromorphic photonic computing has emerged as a competitive computing paradigm to overcome the bottlenecks of the von-Neumann architecture.Linear weighting and nonlinear spike activation are two fundamental functions of a photonic spiking neural network(PSNN).However,they are separately implemented with different photonic materials and devices,hindering the large-scale integration of PSNN.Here,we propose,fabricate and experimentally demonstrate a photonic neuro-synaptic chip enabling the simultaneous implementation of linear weighting and nonlinear spike activation based on a distributed feedback(DFB)laser with a saturable absorber(DFB-SA).A prototypical system is experimentally constructed to demonstrate the parallel weighted function and nonlinear spike activation.Furthermore,a fourchannel DFB-SA laser array is fabricated for realizing matrix convolution of a spiking convolutional neural network,achieving a recognition accuracy of 87%for the MNIST dataset.The fabricated neuro-synaptic chip offers a fundamental building block to construct the large-scale integrated PSNN chip.

Photonic matrix multiplication lights up photonicaccelerator and beyond

Matrix computation,as a fundamental building block of information processing in science and technology,contributes most of the computational overheads in modern signal processing and artificial intelligence algorithms.Photonic accelerators are designed to accelerate specific categories of computing in the optical domain,especially matrix multiplication,to address the growing demand for computing resources and capacity.Photonic matrix multiplication has much potential to expand the domain of telecommunication,and artificial intelligence benefiting from its superior performance.Recent research in photonic matrix multiplication has flourished and may provide opportunities to develop applications that are unachievable at present by conventional electronic processors.In this review,we first introduce the methods of photonic matrix multiplication,mainly including the plane light conversion method,Mach–Zehnder interferometer method and wavelength division multiplexing method.We also summarize the developmental milestones of photonic matrix multiplication and the related applications.Then,we review their detailed advances in applications to optical signal processing and artificial neural networks in recent years.Finally,we comment on the challenges and perspectives of photonic matrix multiplication and photonic acceleration.