All-Optical Doubly Resonant Cavities for ReLU Function in Nanophotonic Deep Learning

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Ahmadnejad, Amirreza, Asadi, Mohmmad Mehrdad, Koohi, Somayyeh
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Ahmadnejad, Amirreza
Asadi, Mohmmad Mehrdad
Koohi, Somayyeh
author_facet Ahmadnejad, Amirreza
Asadi, Mohmmad Mehrdad
Koohi, Somayyeh
contents We present a novel approach to implementing all-optical Rectified Linear Unit (ReLU) activation functions using compact doubly-resonant cavities with dimensions of approximately $10\,μ\mathrm{m}$. Our design leverages $χ^{(2)}$ nonlinear processes within carefully engineered photonic structures that simultaneously resonate at both fundamental and second-harmonic frequencies. By exploiting the phase-sensitive nature of second-harmonic generation, we demonstrate an optical analog to the ReLU function, achieving femtojoule-level activation energy-comparable to state-of-the-art approaches-while reducing device footprint by two orders of magnitude compared to previous implementations. We develop the theoretical framework using coupled-mode theory and validate it through rigorous finite-difference time-domain simulations. Beyond ReLU, we show that the same physical structure can implement alternative activation functions such as ELU and GELU through simple adjustments to input conditions. Neural network simulations demonstrate that our proposed optical activation functions achieve classification accuracy within $0.4\%$ of ideal electronic implementations while offering significant advantages in energy efficiency and processing speed. This work represents a significant advancement toward realizing energy-efficient, high-density optical neural networks for next-generation artificial intelligence hardware.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_19692
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle All-Optical Doubly Resonant Cavities for ReLU Function in Nanophotonic Deep Learning
Ahmadnejad, Amirreza
Asadi, Mohmmad Mehrdad
Koohi, Somayyeh
Optics
We present a novel approach to implementing all-optical Rectified Linear Unit (ReLU) activation functions using compact doubly-resonant cavities with dimensions of approximately $10\,μ\mathrm{m}$. Our design leverages $χ^{(2)}$ nonlinear processes within carefully engineered photonic structures that simultaneously resonate at both fundamental and second-harmonic frequencies. By exploiting the phase-sensitive nature of second-harmonic generation, we demonstrate an optical analog to the ReLU function, achieving femtojoule-level activation energy-comparable to state-of-the-art approaches-while reducing device footprint by two orders of magnitude compared to previous implementations. We develop the theoretical framework using coupled-mode theory and validate it through rigorous finite-difference time-domain simulations. Beyond ReLU, we show that the same physical structure can implement alternative activation functions such as ELU and GELU through simple adjustments to input conditions. Neural network simulations demonstrate that our proposed optical activation functions achieve classification accuracy within $0.4\%$ of ideal electronic implementations while offering significant advantages in energy efficiency and processing speed. This work represents a significant advancement toward realizing energy-efficient, high-density optical neural networks for next-generation artificial intelligence hardware.
title All-Optical Doubly Resonant Cavities for ReLU Function in Nanophotonic Deep Learning
topic Optics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.19692