All-silicon non-volatile optical memory based on photon avalanche-induced trapping
Abstract Implementing on-chip non-volatile optical memories has long been an actively pursued goal, promising significant enhancements in the capability and energy efficiency of photonic integrated circuits. Here, we demonstrate an non-volatile optical memory exclusively using the most common semico...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Communications Physics |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-01934-4 |
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| _version_ | 1832585662051647488 |
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| author | Yuan Yuan Yiwei Peng Stanley Cheung Wayne V. Sorin Sean Hooten Zhihong Huang Di Liang Jiuyi Zhang Marco Fiorentino Raymond G. Beausoleil |
| author_facet | Yuan Yuan Yiwei Peng Stanley Cheung Wayne V. Sorin Sean Hooten Zhihong Huang Di Liang Jiuyi Zhang Marco Fiorentino Raymond G. Beausoleil |
| author_sort | Yuan Yuan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Implementing on-chip non-volatile optical memories has long been an actively pursued goal, promising significant enhancements in the capability and energy efficiency of photonic integrated circuits. Here, we demonstrate an non-volatile optical memory exclusively using the most common semiconductor material, silicon. By manipulating the photon avalanche effect, we introduce a trapping effect at the silicon-silicon oxide interface, which in turn demonstrates a non-volatile reprogrammable optical memory cell with a record-high 4-bit encoding, robust retention and endurance. This silicon avalanche-induced trapping memory provides a distinctively cost-efficient and high-reliability route to realize optical data storage in standard silicon foundry processes. We demonstrate its applications in trimming in optical interconnects and in-memory computing. Our in-memory computing test case reduces energy consumption by approximately 83% compared to conventional optical approaches. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b90436431bf840199aeb83d5bfdecb7f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2399-3650 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Physics |
| spelling | doaj-art-b90436431bf840199aeb83d5bfdecb7f2025-01-26T12:37:08ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Physics2399-36502025-01-018111110.1038/s42005-025-01934-4All-silicon non-volatile optical memory based on photon avalanche-induced trappingYuan Yuan0Yiwei Peng1Stanley Cheung2Wayne V. Sorin3Sean Hooten4Zhihong Huang5Di Liang6Jiuyi Zhang7Marco Fiorentino8Raymond G. Beausoleil9Hewlett Packard Labs, Hewlett Packard EnterpriseHewlett Packard Labs, Hewlett Packard EnterpriseHewlett Packard Labs, Hewlett Packard EnterpriseHewlett Packard Labs, Hewlett Packard EnterpriseHewlett Packard Labs, Hewlett Packard EnterpriseHewlett Packard Labs, Hewlett Packard EnterpriseElectrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, University of MichiganHewlett Packard Labs, Hewlett Packard EnterpriseHewlett Packard Labs, Hewlett Packard EnterpriseHewlett Packard Labs, Hewlett Packard EnterpriseAbstract Implementing on-chip non-volatile optical memories has long been an actively pursued goal, promising significant enhancements in the capability and energy efficiency of photonic integrated circuits. Here, we demonstrate an non-volatile optical memory exclusively using the most common semiconductor material, silicon. By manipulating the photon avalanche effect, we introduce a trapping effect at the silicon-silicon oxide interface, which in turn demonstrates a non-volatile reprogrammable optical memory cell with a record-high 4-bit encoding, robust retention and endurance. This silicon avalanche-induced trapping memory provides a distinctively cost-efficient and high-reliability route to realize optical data storage in standard silicon foundry processes. We demonstrate its applications in trimming in optical interconnects and in-memory computing. Our in-memory computing test case reduces energy consumption by approximately 83% compared to conventional optical approaches.https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-01934-4 |
| spellingShingle | Yuan Yuan Yiwei Peng Stanley Cheung Wayne V. Sorin Sean Hooten Zhihong Huang Di Liang Jiuyi Zhang Marco Fiorentino Raymond G. Beausoleil All-silicon non-volatile optical memory based on photon avalanche-induced trapping Communications Physics |
| title | All-silicon non-volatile optical memory based on photon avalanche-induced trapping |
| title_full | All-silicon non-volatile optical memory based on photon avalanche-induced trapping |
| title_fullStr | All-silicon non-volatile optical memory based on photon avalanche-induced trapping |
| title_full_unstemmed | All-silicon non-volatile optical memory based on photon avalanche-induced trapping |
| title_short | All-silicon non-volatile optical memory based on photon avalanche-induced trapping |
| title_sort | all silicon non volatile optical memory based on photon avalanche induced trapping |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-01934-4 |
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