Using Active Surface Plasmons in a Multibit Optical Storage Device to Emulate Long‐Term Synaptic Plasticity

physica status solidi (a), vol. 217

Abstract

Artificial intelligence takes inspiration from the functionalities and structure of the brain to solve complex tasks and allow learning. Yet, hardware realization that simulates the synaptic activities realized with electrical devices still lags behind computer software implementation, which has improved significantly during the past decade. Herein, the capability to emulate synaptic functionalities by exploiting surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) is shown. By depositing photochromic switching molecules (diarylethene) on a thin film of gold, it is possible to reliably control the electronic configuration of the molecules upon illumination cycles with UV and visible light. These reversible changes modulate the dielectric function of the photochromic film and thus enable the effective control of the SPP dispersion relation at the molecule/gold interface. The plasmonic device displays fundamental functions of a synapse such as potentiation, depression, and long‐term plasticity. The integration of such plasmonic devices in an artificial neural network is deployed in plasmonic neuroinspired circuits for optical computing and data transmission.

Authors 7

1. Seon‐Young Rhim

   Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Institut für Physik, Institut für Chemie & IRIS Adlershof Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Brook-Taylor-Straße 6 12489 Berlin Germany

2. Giovanni Ligorio corresponding

   Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Institut für Physik, Institut für Chemie & IRIS Adlershof Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Brook-Taylor-Straße 6 12489 Berlin Germany

3. Felix Hermerschmidt

   Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Institut für Physik, Institut für Chemie & IRIS Adlershof Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Brook-Taylor-Straße 6 12489 Berlin Germany

4. Jana Hildebrandt

   Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Institut für Chemie & IRIS Adlershof Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Brook-Taylor-Straße 2 12489 Berlin Germany

5. Michael Pätzel

   Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Institut für Chemie & IRIS Adlershof Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Brook-Taylor-Straße 2 12489 Berlin Germany

6. Stefan Hecht Aachen DWI ‐ Leibniz‐Institut für Interaktive Materialien e.V Institut für Technische und Makromolekulare Chemie

   Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin · DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   DWI – Leibniz‐Institut für interaktive Materialien e.V. RWTH Aachen University Forckenbeckstraße 50 52056 Aachen Germany

   Institut für Chemie & IRIS Adlershof Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Brook-Taylor-Straße 2 12489 Berlin Germany

   Institut für Technische und Makromolekulare Chemie RWTH Aachen University Worringerweg 2 52074 Aachen Germany

7. Emil J. W. List

   Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie · Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Helmholtz-Zentrum für Materialien und Energie GmbH Brook-Taylor-Straße 6 12489 Berlin Germany

   Institut für Physik, Institut für Chemie & IRIS Adlershof Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Brook-Taylor-Straße 6 12489 Berlin Germany