https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/s10053-023-00748-9
Regular Article – Optical Phenomena and Photonics
An ultra-compact and highly stable optical numerical comparator based on Y-shaped graphene nanoribbons
1
Guangxi Key Laboratory of Automatic Detecting Technology and Instruments, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, 541004, Guilin, People’s Republic of China
2
Jincheng Research Institute of Opto-Mechatronics Industry, 048000, Jincheng, Shanxi, People’s Republic of China
3
Shanxi Key Laboratory of Advanced Semiconductor Optoelectronic Devices and Integrated Systems, 048000, Jincheng, Shanxi, People’s Republic of China
4
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, 77843-3112, College Station, TX, USA
c
cenlei@126.com
d
46518438@qq.com
Received:
16
June
2023
Accepted:
18
August
2023
Published online:
5
September
2023
Research on artificial neural network computing based on conventional integrated circuit chips has made significant progress, but it faces technical bottlenecks such as reduced energy consumption, computing speed, and efficiency. So, it is seeking integrated chips based on optical interconnections to solve the current dilemma. Fortunately, the small size and very localized graphene surface plasmon waves offer the possibility of optical integrated chips. In this paper, we propose a graphene-based one-bit optical numerical comparator. The comparator is located on the top of a 0.4-μm2 rectangular dielectric layer, mainly consisting of Y-shaped graphene nanoribbons. The on/off effect of the graphene nanoribbons is achieved by applying an external voltage to change the chemical potential energy of the graphene switching bands. The proposed optical numerical comparator with 9.55-μm TM mode light achieves a minimum extinction ratio of 31.12 dB and amplitude modulation of 0.77 dB, as shown by the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. Compared with the current optical numerical comparators, it has the advantages of a high extinction ratio, small size, low loss, and high stability. In addition, the effect of process deviation of graphene nanoribbons on the reliability of the designed optical numerical comparator is analyzed by simulation. It is beneficial to developing integrated photonic devices and has some significance for developing ultra-high-frequency and integrating artificial neural network computing.
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, SIF and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
