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Integrated van der Waals waveguides for all-optical nonlinear photonic circuits
Xiaowen Zhang1, Xiangpeng Ou1, Zhican Zhou1
1Integrated Photonics Lab, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
Nature Communications
|May 15, 2026
Summary
Researchers developed an all-optical deep neural network using molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) integrated photonic circuits. This MoS₂ platform enables ultrafast, broadband optical signal processing for advanced photonic computing.
Area of Science:
- Photonics and Materials Science
- Integrated Photonics
- Optical Computing
Background:
- Traditional electronic systems face limitations in processing speed and energy efficiency for deep neural networks.
- Achieving broadband all-optical signal transmission with ultrafast processing in conventional photonic waveguides is a significant challenge.
- Van der Waals materials offer potential for novel optical functionalities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present an integrated photonic circuit using vertically grown molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) for all-optical deep neural networks.
- To demonstrate broadband nonlinear activation capabilities for optical neural network hardware.
- To evaluate the performance of this MoS₂-based platform against digital activation functions.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of an integrated photonic circuit incorporating vertically grown molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂).
- Leveraging the saturable absorption properties of MoS₂ for all-optical nonlinear activation.
- Testing broadband operability across telecommunication O-band and C-band with response times as fast as 10 ps.
- Benchmarking task-level performance using a standardized evaluation framework.
Main Results:
- Successful demonstration of all-optical nonlinear activation over both O-band and C-band using MoS₂.
- Achieved ultrafast response speeds of approximately 10 picoseconds.
- MoS₂-based platform shows potential for flexible deployment as an optical activation function.
- Comparable or improved performance against mainstream digital activation functions in diverse network architectures.
Conclusions:
- Vertically grown MoS₂ integrated photonic circuits enable broadband, ultrafast all-optical nonlinear activation.
- This platform is compatible with wafer-scale manufacturing, paving the way for scalable photonic computing.
- MoS₂ holds significant promise for in-situ nonlinearity in all-optical neural network hardware, advancing photonic computing systems.
