Open Access
18 July 2023 Electrically programmable phase-change photonic memory for optical neural networks with nanoseconds in situ training capability
Maoliang Wei, Junying Li, Zequn Chen, Bo Tang, Zhiqi Jia, Peng Zhang, Kunhao Lei, Kai Xu, Jianghong Wu, Chuyu Zhong, Hui Ma, Yuting Ye, Jialing Jian, Chunlei Sun, Ruonan Liu, Ying Sun, Wei. E. I. Sha, Xiaoyong Hu, Jianyi Yang, Lan Li, Hongtao Lin
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Abstract

Optical neural networks (ONNs), enabling low latency and high parallel data processing without electromagnetic interference, have become a viable player for fast and energy-efficient processing and calculation to meet the increasing demand for hash rate. Photonic memories employing nonvolatile phase-change materials could achieve zero static power consumption, low thermal cross talk, large-scale, and high-energy-efficient photonic neural networks. Nevertheless, the switching speed and dynamic energy consumption of phase-change material-based photonic memories make them inapplicable for in situ training. Here, by integrating a patch of phase change thin film with a PIN-diode-embedded microring resonator, a bifunctional photonic memory enabling both 5-bit storage and nanoseconds volatile modulation was demonstrated. For the first time, a concept is presented for electrically programmable phase-change material-driven photonic memory integrated with nanosecond modulation to allow fast in situ training and zero static power consumption data processing in ONNs. ONNs with an optical convolution kernel constructed by our photonic memory theoretically achieved an accuracy of predictions higher than 95% when tested by the MNIST handwritten digit database. This provides a feasible solution to constructing large-scale nonvolatile ONNs with high-speed in situ training capability.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE and CLP under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.
Maoliang Wei, Junying Li, Zequn Chen, Bo Tang, Zhiqi Jia, Peng Zhang, Kunhao Lei, Kai Xu, Jianghong Wu, Chuyu Zhong, Hui Ma, Yuting Ye, Jialing Jian, Chunlei Sun, Ruonan Liu, Ying Sun, Wei. E. I. Sha, Xiaoyong Hu, Jianyi Yang, Lan Li, and Hongtao Lin "Electrically programmable phase-change photonic memory for optical neural networks with nanoseconds in situ training capability," Advanced Photonics 5(4), 046004 (18 July 2023). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.AP.5.4.046004
Received: 7 December 2022; Accepted: 25 June 2023; Published: 18 July 2023
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CITATIONS
Cited by 14 scholarly publications.
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KEYWORDS
Education and training

Phase modulation

Antimony

Selenium

Modulation

Pulse signals

Neural networks

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