In this groundbreaking paper, the focus is on the energy efficiency of electronic processors, particularly the limitations imposed by electronic communication and interconnects. The industry is heading towards a shift to optical interconnects to vastly improve efficiency. Once this migration is successful, the main source of energy consumption will be digital computing, memory, and electro-optical conversion. The paper introduces the concept of efficient all-optical digital computing and memory, eliminating the need for electro-optical conversions. A demonstration of a scheme enabling general purpose digital data processing in an integrated form is provided, alongside a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) implementation. This marks a significant step towards all-optical computing.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.00045