Full-integrated photonic pre-synaptic spiking neuron based on DML-DFB laser chip

Photonic neuromorphic computing based on spiking dynamics has been a promising approach for constructing low-latency and energy-efficient non-von Neumann architecture. However, the system is severely limited by the discrete optical injection and modulation devices. We proposed and demonstrated a true full-integrated spiking neuron based on a monolithic integrated directly modulated laser-distributed feedback laser (DML-DFB) chip. While the directly modulated master laser (DML section) inject the optical stimulus into the integrated slave laser (DFB section), rich neuron-like spiking nonlinear responses are observed, including typical spiking threshold, temporal integration, and refractory period. Huge optical discrete system is integrated to be an InP-based chip with area only 0.25 mm
²
. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest level of integration for current photonic spiking system, which paves the way for realizing large-scale photonic spiking neural network (PSNN) that can handle complex tasks.