Incoherent Light-Driven Nonlinear Optical Extreme Learner via Data Reverberation

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Liu, Bofeng, Mei, Xu, Shafi, Sadman, Xia, Tunan, Khoo, Iam-Choon, Liu, Zhiwen, Ni, Xingjie
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Liu, Bofeng
Mei, Xu
Shafi, Sadman
Xia, Tunan
Khoo, Iam-Choon
Liu, Zhiwen
Ni, Xingjie
author_facet Liu, Bofeng
Mei, Xu
Shafi, Sadman
Xia, Tunan
Khoo, Iam-Choon
Liu, Zhiwen
Ni, Xingjie
contents Artificial neural networks have revolutionized fields from computer vision to natural language processing, yet their growing energy and computational demands threaten future progress. Optical neural networks promise greater speed, bandwidth, and energy efficiency, but suffer from weak optical nonlinearities. Here, we demonstrate a low-power, incoherent-light-driven optical extreme learner that leverages 'data nonlinearity' from optical pattern reverberation, eliminating reliance on intrinsic nonlinear materials. By encoding input data in the spatial polarization distribution of a tailored optical cavity and allowing light to pass through it multiple times, we achieve nonlinear transformations at extremely low optical power. Coupled with a simple trainable readout, our optical learner consistently outperforms linear digital networks in standard image classification tasks and XOR benchmarks, delivering accuracy matching fully nonlinear digital models. Our compact, energy-efficient approach significantly reduces complexity, cost, and energy consumption, paving the way for practical, scalable all-optical machine learning platforms.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_08428
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Incoherent Light-Driven Nonlinear Optical Extreme Learner via Data Reverberation
Liu, Bofeng
Mei, Xu
Shafi, Sadman
Xia, Tunan
Khoo, Iam-Choon
Liu, Zhiwen
Ni, Xingjie
Optics
Artificial neural networks have revolutionized fields from computer vision to natural language processing, yet their growing energy and computational demands threaten future progress. Optical neural networks promise greater speed, bandwidth, and energy efficiency, but suffer from weak optical nonlinearities. Here, we demonstrate a low-power, incoherent-light-driven optical extreme learner that leverages 'data nonlinearity' from optical pattern reverberation, eliminating reliance on intrinsic nonlinear materials. By encoding input data in the spatial polarization distribution of a tailored optical cavity and allowing light to pass through it multiple times, we achieve nonlinear transformations at extremely low optical power. Coupled with a simple trainable readout, our optical learner consistently outperforms linear digital networks in standard image classification tasks and XOR benchmarks, delivering accuracy matching fully nonlinear digital models. Our compact, energy-efficient approach significantly reduces complexity, cost, and energy consumption, paving the way for practical, scalable all-optical machine learning platforms.
title Incoherent Light-Driven Nonlinear Optical Extreme Learner via Data Reverberation
topic Optics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.08428