Semiconductor Excitable Processors for
Neuromorphic Photonics
Rama Chaudhary
Department of physics and Computer Science, Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India
Abstract—Novel materials and devices in Photonics have the
potential to revolutionize optical information processing, beyond
conventional binary-logic approaches. Laser systems offer a rich
repertoire of useful dynamical behaviors, including the excitable
dynamics also found in the time-resolved spiking of neurons.
Spiking reconciles the expressiveness and efficiency of analog pro-
cessing with the robustness and scalability of digital processing.
This paper summarize various approaches for spike processing
using Photonics. The excitable laser systems can simultaneously
exhibit logic-level restoration, cascadability, and input-output
isolation which are fundamental challenges in optical information
processing. This paper review recent exciting developments on
candidates excitable semiconductor lasers and device proposed
in literature for a Photonic spike processor.
I. I NTRODUCTION
Recent years have seen much development in information
communication (dominated by optics) and in information
processing(dominated by electronics) in the same medium. In
the context of information processing, nonlinear dynamical
systems have been receiving considerable attention due to
their isomorphism to biological networks. Compared to binary-
logic based methods implemented on standard von Neumann
architectures, unconventional processing paradigms that are
neuroinspired are relatively more effective for solving certain
tasks, such as pattern analysis, decision-making, optimization,
and learning. A sparse coding scheme, called spiking has
recently been recognized by the neuroscience community as
an important neural coding strategy for information process-
ing. The continued evolution of photonic technologies has
reawakened interest for a relentless search in neuro-inspired
optical information processing to complement and enable new
opportunities and potentially bridge the gap with information
communication in the same substrate.
Spiking is a sparse coding scheme with firm code theoretic
justifications. Information is encoded in the temporal and
spatial relationships between short pulses or spikes. Spike
codes which are digital in amplitude but analog in time exhibit
the expressiveness and efficiency of analog processing with the
robustness of digital communication. Spikes are typically re-
ceived and generated by nonlinear dynamical systems, and can
be represented and processed dynamically through excitability
a far from equilibrium nonlinear dynamical mechanism under-
lying all-or-none responses to small perturbations[1].
Excitable systems possess unique regenerative properties
and have been employed
Excitability is behaviorally defined by three main criteria:
(i) an unperturbed system rests at a single stable equilibrium;
(ii) an external perturbation above the excitability threshold
triggers a large excursion from this equilibrium; (iii) the
system then settles back to the attractor in what is called the
refractory period, after which the system can be excited again.
In context of spike processing, excitable systems have
been studied using tools like bifurcation theory[1]. Optical
excitability in semiconductor devices is widely studied the-
oretically and experimentally. These include two-section gain
and saturable absorber (SA) lasers, semiconductor ring and
microdisk lasers, two-dimensional photonic crystal nanocavi-
ties, resonant tunneling diode photodetector and laser diode,
semiconductor lasers based on optical injection, semiconductor
lasers subjected to optical feedback, and polarization switching
VCSELs.
II. T WO -S ECTION G AIN AND SA E XCITABLE L ASER
Prucnal and co-workers[6]-[9] and Barbay and co-
workers[4],[5] have advocated two-section gain and SA ex-
citable lasers as a computational primitive for spike process-
ing. This system has been shown, theoretically and experi-
mentally, to be analogous to the leaky integrate-and-fire (LIF)
neuron model[2],[3], commonly employed in computational
neuroscience for modeling biological neural networks but time
scales of biological neuron and device are vastly different.
Whereas biological neurons have time constants on the or-
der of milliseconds, carrier lifetimes of laser gain sections
are typically in the nanosecond range and can go down to
picoseconds. Although it is one of the simpler spike based
models, the LIF model is capable of universal computations,
and the transmission of information through spike timings.
A. Principle of operation
The simple schematic figure two-section gain and SA ex-
citable laser is given in fig 1. The device composed of a (i)
a gain section, (ii) a saturable absorber, and (iii) mirrors for
cavity feedback. In the LIF excitable model inputs selectively
perturb the gain optically or electrically. Arrows in fig 1(b)
indicate inputs θ(t) (excitatory pulses and inhibitory pulses)
that change the gain by some amount ∆G. Enough excitatory
input causes the system to enter fast dynamics in which a spike
is generated, followed by the fast recovery of the absorption
Q(t) and the slow recovery of the gain G(t).
The Yamada model describes the behavior of lasers with
independent gain and SA sections with an approximately con-
stant intensity profile across the cavity. The inputs selectively
perturb the gain. The gain medium acts as a temporal integrator

Fig. 1. Two-section gain-SA excitable laser and simulation results of an SA
laser behaving as an LIF neuron. Variables were rescaled to fit within the
desired range. Values used: A = 4.3, B = 3.52, a = 1.8, G = 0.05, L, I 
0.05[8].
with a time constant that is equal to the carrier recombination
lifetime. A SA becomes transparent with increasing light
intensity and thus acts as a threshold detector by gating the
intensity built up in the cavity by the gain medium. This 3-D
dynamical system, in its simplest form, can be described with
the following undimensionalized equations[8].
Ġ = γG [A − G(t) − G(t)I(t)] + θ(t) (1)
Q̇ = γQ [B − Q(t) − aQ(t)I(t)] (2)
I˙ = γI [G(t) − Q(t) − 1]I(t) + f (G) (3)
where G(t) models the gain, Q(t) the absorption, and
I(t) the laser intensity. A is the gain bias current, B is the
absorption level, γG is the gain relaxation rate, γQ is the
absorber relaxation rate, γI is the inverse photon lifetime, and
a is a differential absorption relative to the gain factor. We
represent the spontaneous noise contribution to intensity via
f (G), for small , and time-dependent input perturbations as
θ(t).
When the dynamics of pulse generation are fast compared
to the dynamics of the gain medium, one can compress the in-
ternal dynamics and obtain an instantaneous pulse-generation
model described by following LIF equations.
This system is analogous to a leaky integrate-and-fire
(LIF) neuron model, Commonly employed in computational
neuroscience for modeling biological neural networks. The
LIF model is capable of universal computations and the
transmission of information through spike timings. The gain-
absorber system has been predicted to exhibit cascadability,
logic-level restoration, and input-output isolation satisfying the
basic criteria for optical computing.
B. Results
The two-section excitable laser model with gain and an em-
bedded SA is applicable to different physical manifestations.
Nahmias et al.[8] proposed a compact VCSEL-SA exhibiting
neuron-like behavior. Shastri et al.[9] theoretically and exper-
imentally demonstrated a fiber-based graphene excitable laser.
A more recently proposed device is a two-section distributed
feedback (DFB) excitable laser neuron in a hybrid III-V/silicon
platform[1]. All these devices show behavior very much like
to a biological neuron and can be utilized for computing
purposes. Following figure shows simulated dynamics for
VCSEL-SA based device.
Fig. 2. A simulated dynamics for VCSEL-SA based two section device.
Here enough perturbation triggers a excrusion from gain and generate a spike.
Afterwards gain slowly settle back to Greset and SA shows fast dynamics.
Simulation has been done in the matlab2017b.
III. S EMICONDUCTOR R ING AND M ICRODISK L ASERS
Circular-cavity lasers are a class of semiconductor lasers
that have also shown to exhibit dynamic excitability[10],[12].
Their circular symmetry forms a resonator cavity with two
equistable counter-propagating normal modes per frequency,
leading to multistable behavior. Recently, two research groups
used this phenomenon to characterize excitable lasers as op-
tical neurons: Coomans et al.[11] investigated an architecture
based on semiconductor ring lasers (SRL) and Alexander, Van
Vaerenbergh et al[13] investigated microdisk lasers (ML).
A. Semiconductor Ring Lasers
An SRL consists of an electrically-pumped III-V ring res-
onator coupled to a waveguide(see fig 3a). Excitable pulsations
were observed experimentally in SRLs by Gelens et al[10].
Recently, Coomans et al.[11] theoretically investigated the
engineering of one SRL for optical spike excitation and the
excitation of one SRL via another.
1) Principle of Operation: A pulsating SRL was monolith-
ically fabricated on a InP-based multi-quantumwell substrate
with a racetrack geometry (see Fig. 3b). The device operates in
a single-transverse, single-longitudinal mode at λ = 1.56µm.
The circular geometry makes this mode degenerate, result-
ing in two counter-propagating modes, which are coupled
to each other in two ways, linearly by intermodal coupling
and non-linearly by cross-gain saturation. Sorel et al.[19] had
shown that for a certain phase of the intermodal coupling

Fig. 3. (a) A SC ring laser the base SC conductor is gain section which
traps the light in ring shaped region where it get circulated continously. To
measure the output a bus waveguide is used. (b) Experimental SRL set-up.
Two waveguides, referred to as bus waveguides, are positioned next to the ring.
Metallic contacts are deposited on top of the ring and on all four pathways
of the bus waveguides. The power emitted from the chip is collected with a
multimode fiber. The cleaved facet of the fiber also serves as a controllable
backscattering element[1].
coefficient (around φk ≈ 1.5, the SRL has three different
regimes for different pump currents (see Fig. 4). In regime
A, the ring laser operates bidirectionally and both modes have
constant power. In regime B, however, alternate oscillations
appear wherein both counterpropagating modes harmonically
exchange energy over time. This behavioral change corre-
sponds to a Hopf bifurcation. Most interestingly, in regime
C, the ring laser operates quasi-unidirectionally, without os-
cillations. However, injecting light into the cavity may cause
the system to switch between modes[1].
Fig. 4. Experimental (dc) LI curves of a sample SRL device[1]
Dynamics of this system can be represented in a phase
portrait (see fig. 5). The two stable modes clockwise (CW) and
(CCW) are depicted as attractor basins. For certain parame-
ters(region A of fig. 4) stability of both modes is approximately
same which is shown in fig. 5(a).
However, as pump current drives the system in region
C of fig 4, an asymmetry causes the CW basin to shrink
significantly to a point where it becomes stable to metastable
(see fig 5b). In practice the laser will always operate in the
CCW mode. By injecting a short optical pulse centered at the
resonance frequency and with a particular phase with respect
to the CCW mode, one can deterministically force the system
state to cross both branches of the CW stable manifold (gray
area in Fig. 5(b)). After that, the relaxation trajectory involves
quickly going around the CW basin to return to the CCW
point, producing a short pulse in the CW mode[1].
Fig. 5. Phase portrait representation of Eqs. (6.6)(6.9). Stable manifold
separating the two basins of attraction (black and white)[1].
2) Results: The high-speed excitable excursion is promis-
ing for neuro-inspired information processing applications in
Photonics Coomans et al., investigated the coupling between
two SRLs via a single waveguide bus and simulated cascad-
able, unidirectional excitations across the neighboring SRLs.
The CW mode of one SRL can couple to the CCW mode of
the other SRL. However, coupling the two SRLs has an effect
on the dynamics of the individual lasers. Nonetheless, this
scheme may be amenable to a coherent phase-based approach
to networking.
Exciting an SRL in a controllable way can practically prove
to be a major hurdle. The initial direction of the perturbation
is critically influenced by the phase of the short pulse with
respect to the laser state, which imposes a difficult synchro-
nization constraint. Moreover, the power of the injected pulse
is eight orders of magnitude weaker than the power of the
CCW mode. Out-of-phase optical injection might cause the
system to cross the CW basin twice, resulting in double
pulses. Multipulse excitation can also be caused by noisy
perturbations, due to the proximity of the excitation excursion
to the CW stable manifold. Finally, due to the folded shape of
the excitability threshold in phase portrait, there is no concept
of excitatory or inhibitory perturbation[1].
B. Microdisk Lasers
Microdisk lasers (MLs), similar to SRLs, consist of disk-
shaped resonators coupled to a bus waveguide. Stable, uni-
directional lasing operation of MLs were recently demon-
strated experimentally. However, combining electrical pump
with optical injection, Alexander et al[12]. theoretically and
numerically showed that an ML can also exhibit class 1
excitability. Moreover, Van Vaerenbergh et al.[13] numerically
analyzed spike transfer and other dynamics between two MLs.
1) Principle of Operation: Microdisk lasers have been
fabricated using the hybrid III-V on silicon-on insulator (SOI)
hybrid platform. An ML is a disk-shaped, InP laser cavity,
with an electrically-pumped InAsP quantum well gain section,
bonded on top of a SOI substrate (see Fig 6). A single-
mode-sized disk supports two counter-propagating whispering
gallery modes, which are evanescently coupled to a silicon
waveguide in the SOI layer. Similarly to SRLs, the lasers are
electrically pumped and can be optically injected from both
directions of the bus waveguide. Microdisk lasers share the
same phenomenology of the SRLs, and thus can exhibit the

Fig. 6. Top: schematic drawing of the heterogeneous microdisk laser structure,
showing the metal contact position and the output SOI wire-waveguide.
Bottom: optical microscope image of three fabricated microdisk lasers, just
before the deposition of the metal contacts, showing the microdisk cavity, the
InP bottom contact layer, the SOI wire, and the contact bias etched into the
benzocyclobutene (BCB) planarization layer[1].
same excitability behavior of SRLs via symmetry breaking. In
their work, instead of using a flat-faced fiber coupled to the bus
waveguide, Van Vaerenbergh et al.[12] induce asymmetry in
the system via CW optical injection in one of the two counter-
propagating whispering-gallery modes, causing one mode to
be dominant and the other to be suppressed[1].
This brings the system in the vicinity of saddle-node on a
limit circle bifurcation. The laser possess class 1 excitability,
whereby small optically injected perturbations cause linear
response but for inputs greater than a certain threshold, the
laser produces an optical pulse in the suppressed mode. This
behavior resembles the previously discussed LIF model of a
spiking neuron, as opposed to resonate-and-fire proposed by
Cooman et.al.[12]
2) Results: Because of class 1 excitability (Analogy to LIF
neuron), a pulse can be categorized as inhibitory or excitatory,
according to a combination of its intensity, duration, and,
most importantly, phase relative to the CW input. Consecutive
pulses can be integrated to overcome the spiking threshold.
SRLs without optical injection are sensitive to the phase differ-
ence between input and the laser state, which is uncontrollable
in practical setup, the MLs phase sensitivity is respective to
the locking CW signal, which can be more easily controlled
externally.
These circular cavity laser systems very elegantly resulted
in excitable behavior. Two elements can be interconnected
via a passive waveguide and are, in general terms, finely
controlled by phase tuning. Interconnection and cascadability
were proposed and numerically predicted for both SRLs and
MLs. SRLs could present resonate-and-fire behavior near the
Hopf bifurcation, allowing for the system to respond to precise
interspike intervals. Injected lasers are usually very sensitive
to the phase of the perturbing pulse; however, the ML show
good robustness to input pulse phase noise[1].
IV. 2D P HOTONIC C RYSTAL NANOCAVITIES
A photonic crystal is analogous to a semiconductor in that
the propagation of photons is affected in the same way as the
periodic potential in a semiconductor crystal influences the
flow of electrons by defining allowed and forbidden electronic
energy bands. PCs are composed of varying periodic dielectric
constant materials (alternating low and high) in up to three
dimensions. This results in a photonic band gap (PBG) where
some frequencies are not allowed to propagate. Light can be
controlled and manipulated by introducing defects that alter
the periodicity and break the completeness of the PBG. The
localization of light in the PBG region leads to the design of
the PC based optical devices. Soljacic et al.[17] proposed an
analytical model along with numerical simulations for optical
bistable switching in a nonlinear PC.
A system is said to be optically bistable if it has two output
states for the same value of the input over some range of input
values. Thus a system having the transmission curve of Fig.
7 is said to be bistable between in certain range.
Fig. 7. Characteristic curve for an optical bistable system[18].
A. Principle of Operation
The 2D PC band-edge resonator by Yacomotti et al.[14],[15]
(Fig. 8) consists of a graphite lattice with cylindrical air holes
patterned into a 20µm by 20µm, 240 nm thickness InP slab
through a silica mask. The lattice constant is 775 nm and
hole diameter is 230 nm. The InP slab contains four quantum
wells (QWs) of InAsP whose luminescence is centered around
1500 nm. A Bragg mirror below the 2DPC ensures strong light
confinement in the vertical direction in the PC slab. Brunstein
et al. have a similar structure (lattice constant of 450 nm and
hole diameter of 240 nm) but with a suspended InP membrane
(10 µm 50 µm) and without the Bragg mirror (Fig 8).
For excitability, the system is biased above the bistability
threshold so that both the bistable branches (lower and upper
states) coexist. The system can be switched from the lower

Fig. 8. Schematic of photonic crystals and experimental data. (a) Sketch of
the 2DPC (scanning electron microscopy image of the graphite lattice on top)
and cross-section distribution of the electromagnetic energy from a finite-
difference time domain 3D numerical simulation of the real structure. The
horizontal line on the top represents the extension of the injected CW resonant
plane wave. (b) Schematic of the PC sample showing the L3 cavity and image
of the whole sample and the fibered taper[1].
state to the upper states by introducing a short perturbation.
In such conditions, heating is enhanced, which increases the
refractive index and thus shifts the hysteresis cycle to higher
injection powers. Consequently, a self-induced switch to the
low output state takes place, with a subsequent cooling, giving
rise to a two-time scale transient response; firing of the pulse
controlled by the fast carrier dynamics, while the recovery
and pulse duration are controlled by the slower thermal
dynamics[1].
Fig. 9. Excitable responses (bottom traces) to 130 ns width, 40-KHz repetition
rate pulse perturbations (top trace) for different perturbation powers: 1 µW
is below threshold (black line); 20, 35, and 46 W are above threshold [red,
blue, and green lines, respectively. Refractory period is approx. 2 µs ][1].
Brunstein et al.[16] tested the excitable regime of the
PC nanocavity by injecting perturbation pulses with varying
amplitudes as shown in Fig. 9. The system is tested with
a pump (injection) power of 2.6 mW. No output (reflected)
pulses are observed for perturbation powers lower than 1 µW
Increasing the perturbation power just above the threshold at
20 µW results in a 2 µs duration output response. The pulse
shape is stereotypical for a further increase in input power.
This is a clear indication of excitable behavior.
B. Results
The main motivation of exploring excitability within PCs is
the fact that they could enable a system to be of a size on the
order of the wavelength of light and consume only milliwatts
of power, making them particularly attractive for a large-scale
all-optical integration. The nonlinear effects leading to bistable
and excitable behavior can be either thermal or electronic.
Yacomotti et al.[14] note that while optical bistability can be
manifested by thermal effects that easily provide the nonlinear
levels, its application to fast information processing is a bottle-
neck since the frequencies associated with thermal relaxation
are typically in the megahertz range or even slower. However,
electronic nonlinearities, limited by the carrier lifetime, allow
faster switching, but the challenge is to isolate them from the
thermal effects[1].
V. F UTURE O UTLOOK
In the future, remaining approaches for Neuromorphic en-
gineering will be discussed. These includes resonant tunneling
diode (RTD) photodetector and laser diode, Injection locked
semiconductor lasers with delayed feedback, semiconductor
lasers with optical feedback and Polarization switching VC-
SELs. Afterwards various weighting mechanisms of optical
neural networks will be discussed.
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