All-Optical Data Processing with Photon-Avalanching Nanocrystalline Photonic Synapse

Data processing and storage in electronic devices are typically performed as a sequence of elementary binary operations. Alternative approaches, such as neuromorphic or reservoir computing, are rapidly gaining interest where data processing is relatively slow, but can be performed in a more comprehensive way or massively in parallel, like in neuronal circuits. Here, time-domain all-optical information processing capabilities of photon-avalanching (PA) nanoparticles at room temperature are discovered. Demonstrated functionality resembles properties found in neuronal synapses, such as: paired-pulse facilitation and short-term internal memory, in situ plasticity, multiple inputs processing, and all-or-nothing threshold response. The PA-memory-like behavior shows capability of machine-learning-algorithm-free feature extraction and further recognition of 2D patterns with simple 2 input artificial neural network. Additionally, high nonlinearity of luminescence intensity in response to photoexcitation mimics and enhances spike-timing-dependent plasticity that is coherent in nature with the way a sound source is localized in animal neuronal circuits. Not only are yet unexplored fundamental properties of photon-avalanche luminescence kinetics studied, but this approach, combined with recent achievements in photonics, light confinement and guiding, promises all-optical data processing, control, adaptive responsivity, and storage on photonic chips. Highly nonlinear, photoexcitation intensity-dependent luminescence and residual energy storage in photon-avalanching inorganic Tm3+-doped fluoride nanoparticles mimic the behavior of biological synapses. These properties enable all-optical information processing such as multiple inputs and weighted all-or-none response, short memory storage, paired-pulse facilitation, coincidence detection from multiple inputs, and complex 2D image data feature extraction.image

Automated summary

The time-domain all-optical information processing capabilities of photon-avalanching nanoparticles at room temperature have been discovered. These nanoparticles exhibit properties similar to neuronal synapses and can perform feature extraction, pattern recognition, and data processing without the need for machine-learning algorithms. The high nonlinearity and residual energy storage of these nanoparticles enable all-optical data processing and storage on photonic chips.