Calculating with light using a chip-scale all-optical abacus

J. Feldmann, M. Stegmaier, N. Gruhler, C. Ríos, H. Bhaskaran, C. D. Wright and W. H. P. Pernice ()
Additional contact information
J. Feldmann: Institute of Physics, University of Muenster
M. Stegmaier: Institute of Physics, University of Muenster
N. Gruhler: Institute of Physics, University of Muenster
C. Ríos: University of Oxford
H. Bhaskaran: University of Oxford
C. D. Wright: University of Exeter
W. H. P. Pernice: Institute of Physics, University of Muenster

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Machines that simultaneously process and store multistate data at one and the same location can provide a new class of fast, powerful and efficient general-purpose computers. We demonstrate the central element of an all-optical calculator, a photonic abacus, which provides multistate compute-and-store operation by integrating functional phase-change materials with nanophotonic chips. With picosecond optical pulses we perform the fundamental arithmetic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, including a carryover into multiple cells. This basic processing unit is embedded into a scalable phase-change photonic network and addressed optically through a two-pulse random access scheme. Our framework provides first steps towards light-based non-von Neumann arithmetic.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01506-3

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