[论文解读] Integrated electro-optic digital-to-analog link for efficient computing and arbitrary waveform generation

Yunxiang Song, Yaowen Hu+14 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Nov 7, 2024

Photonic and Optical Devices被引用 5

一句话总结

该论文展示了一个通用的电光数字-模拟链（EO-DiAL），使用基于代工厂制造的铌酸锂纳米光子学从纯数字输入在高达 186 Gbit/s 生成光学和电子波形，从而实现高保真 MNIST 编码和超宽带微波任意波形发生。

ABSTRACT

The rapid growth in artificial intelligence and modern communication systems demands innovative solutions for increased computational power and advanced signaling capabilities. Integrated photonics, leveraging the analog nature of electromagnetic waves at the chip scale, offers a promising complement to approaches based on digital electronics. To fully unlock their potential as analog processors, establishing a common technological base between conventional digital electronic systems and analog photonics is imperative to building next-generation computing and communications hardware. However, the absence of an efficient interface has critically challenged comprehensive demonstrations of analog advantage thus far, with the scalability, speed, and energy consumption as primary bottlenecks. Here, we address this challenge and demonstrate a general electro-optic digital-to-analog link (EO-DiAL) enabled by foundry-based lithium niobate nanophotonics. Using purely digital inputs, we achieve on-demand generation of (i) optical and (ii) electronic waveforms at information rates up to 186 Gbit/s. The former addresses the digital-to-analog electro-optic conversion challenge in photonic computing, showcasing high-fidelity MNIST encoding while consuming 0.058 pJ/bit. The latter enables a pulse-shaping-free microwave arbitrary waveform generation method with ultrabroadband tunable delay and gain. Our results pave the way for efficient and compact digital-to-analog conversion paradigms enabled by integrated photonics and underscore the transformative impact analog photonic hardware may have on various applications, such as computing, optical interconnects, and high-speed ranging.

研究动机与目标

• 动员集成光子学，作为数字电子在计算与通信中的模拟处理的互补平台。
• 证明一个通用的 EO-DiAL，能够按需将纯数字输入转换为光学和电子波形。
• 展示高保真度的光学数字-模拟转换，具有低每比特能量，并实现微波信号的波形发生。

提出的方法

• 使用基于代工厂的铌酸锂纳米光子学来实现 EO-DiAL。
• 将纯数字输入处理以在高信息速率下产生光波形（高达 186 Gbit/s）。
• 展示数字到模拟电光转换，达到 0.058 pJ/bit 的每比特能量。
• 实现一种无脉冲整形的微波任意波形发生方法，具备超宽带的可调延迟和增益。

实验结果

研究问题

• RQ1 是否可以建立一个共同的电光接口，在芯片上高效桥接数字电子与模拟光子学？
• RQ2 使用铌酸锂纳米光子学的 EO-DiAL 能实现的性能指标（吞吐量、每比特能量、保真度）是多少？
• RQ3 EO-DiAL 如何同时实现光学数据编码（例如 MNIST）和微波任意波形发生？

主要发现

• EO-DiAL 已证明可用数字输入在高达 186 Gbit/s 生产光学和电子波形。
• 实现了光学 MNIST 编码，具有高保真度和 0.058 pJ/bit 的能量效率。
• 无脉冲整形的超宽带可调延迟和增益的微波任意波形发生。
• 展示了在集成光子学中用于计算和通信的紧凑、高效数字-模拟转换的潜力。
• 在基于 LiNbO3 的代工平台上，提出了连接数字电子和模拟光子学的基础接口。