Photonic implementation of artificial synapses in ultrafast laser inscribed waveguides in chalcogenide glass

Abstract

Simple and direct prototyping methods are ideal for large-scale delivery of cognitive photonic hardware. Here, we choose ultrafast laser writing as a direct fabrication technique to later demonstrate all-optical synaptic-like performance along the laser-written waveguides in a chalcogenide glass. Neuronal communication protocols, such as excitatory and inhibitory responses, temporal summations, and spike-timing-dependent plasticity, are shown in the glass chip. This work manifests the potential for large-scale delivery of fully integrated photonic chips based on cognitive principles by single-step fabrication procedures.