Solitary and coupled semiconductor ring lasers as optical spiking neurons

W. Coomans, L. Gelens, S. Beri, J. Danckaert, and G. Van der Sande
Phys. Rev. E 84, 036209 – Published 19 September 2011

Abstract

We theoretically investigate the possibility of generating pulses in an excitable (asymmetric) semiconductor ring laser (SRL) using optical trigger pulses. We show that the phase difference between the injected field and the electric field inside the SRL determines the direction of the perturbation in phase space. Due to the folded shape of the excitability threshold, this has an important influence on the ability to cross it. A mechanism for exciting multiple consecutive pulses using a single trigger pulse (i.e., multipulse excitability) is revealed. We furthermore investigate the possibility of using asymmetric SRLs in a coupled configuration, which is a first step toward an all-optical neural network using SRLs as building blocks.

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  • Received 10 May 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.84.036209

©2011 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

W. Coomans*, L. Gelens, S. Beri, J. Danckaert, and G. Van der Sande

  • Applied Physics Research Group (APHY), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussel, Belgium

  • *wcoomans@vub.ac.be

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Vol. 84, Iss. 3 — September 2011

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