On-chip Multimode Opto-electronic Neural Network

Abstract

Opto-electronic computing combines the complementary strengths of photonics and electronics to deliver ultrahigh computational throughput with high energy efficiency. However, its practical deployment for real-world applications has been limited by architectures that rely on delicate wavelength management or phase-sensitive coherent detection. Here, we demonstrate the first multimode opto-electronic neural network (MOENN) on a silicon-on-insulator platform. By utilizing orthogonal waveguide eigenmodes as independent information carriers, our architecture achieves robust single-wavelength computation that is inherently immune to spectral crosstalk and phase noise. The fabricated MOENN chip monolithically integrates all functional components, including input encoders, programmable mode-division fan-in/-out units, and most importantly, the nonlinear multimode activation functions. We report the system's versatility through in-situ training via a genetic algorithm, successfully resolving the nonlinear decision boundaries of a two-class dataset and achieving 92.1% accuracy on the Iris classification benchmark. Furthermore, we reconfigure the MOENN into a one-dimensional convolutional neural network, attaining an accuracy of 90.7% on the electrocardiogram-based emotion recognition task. This work establishes a new opto-electronic computing paradigm of simple control and excellent robustness, providing a compelling path toward scalable, deployable photonic intelligence.