All-optical logical operations based on frequency-encoded photonic spiking neuron

Abstract

We propose and numerically demonstrate all-optical logical operations using frequency-switched spiking encoding based on excited photonic spiking distributed feedback semiconductor lasers (DFBs). The results reveal that, DFBs can exhibit the neuron-like dynamic behaviors under optical injection with different intensity and detuning frequency. Utilizing the spiking responses induced by frequency switching, binary data can be encoded into spikes and stable spiking response sequence with 8 orders of magnitude faster than that from biological neurons can be achieved. Furthermore, the reconfigurable all-optical logical operations including OR, AND, XOR can be implemented in a single photonic spiking neuron, and the effects of injection coefficient, duration time and the time delay between two continuous trigger signals on XOR logical operation are discussed. This proposed frequency-encoding-based spiking DFB neuron can pave a new way for all-optical logical operations and future photonic spiking neural network.