Chinese researchers have developed smart on-chip infrared optoelectronic logic gates by integrating multiple silicon waveguides with black phosphorous. The study was published in Nature Photonics.

Optoelectronic logic gates (OELG) couple logic algorithms to sensing units, bringing computing capabilities to the forefront of raw image information. They compute optical information and output electrical signals, expected to be an important supplement to all-electric and all-optical logic gates. The device has potential applications in fields such as lidar, machine vision, and real-time camera analysis. In recent years, scientists have conducted in-depth research in this area. However, current OELGs are limited to basic linear logic functions in the ultraviolet and visible wavebands.

The researchers from the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics (SITP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), have proposed that integrating multiple silicon waveguides with black phosphorus enables the realization of linear and nonlinear OELGs operating at the short-wavelength infrared telecom band.

To improve the integration degree of the smart chip, the researchers designed the device structure considering the joint localized fields of electric and optical fields, making one device equivalent to the cascade of multiple detection units. The prepared van der Waals heterojunction shows multi-channel infrared signal processing capabilities with high responsivity (0.35 A/W) and 3dB bandwidth (230 MHz).

Furthermore, the potential applications of smart on-chip OELGs in the fields of image processing and communication are validated. In particular, the effect of target edge extraction, symbol recognition, infrared image fusion, and encryption and decryption are demonstrated.

This work paves the way for the development of on-chip optoelectronic logic computing circuits on a large scale.

Link to the papers: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-023-01309-7

Contact

Zhen Wang

Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics

E-mail: wangzhen@mail.sitp.ac.cn

Reference:

On-chip optoelectronic logic gates operating in the telecom band

Figure: Smart on-chip infrared optoelectronic logic gates and its application demonstration diagram